Under the Government’s ‘Fair’ Funding Review, hundreds of millions of pounds are set to be taken from England’s most deprived areas and given to more well-off areas instead.

Here in Bolton, our Council is looking at a £6.6m cut to its annual funding, constituting a 8.68% hit to its budget.  In contrast, Hampshire Council is set to receive a budget increase of £35.3m, or a 14.23% rise in its budget.

This comes after a decade of cuts which have eviscerated local Councils and the local services that they provide.  Most notably, the axe has fallen on Councils in the North and the most deprived areas of England.

This is only set to escalate, as the Government’s new funding formulae significantly downgrades the importance of deprivation in its calculations.

This round of budget changes have yet to got ahead, so the Government has the opportunity to stop them.  However, if it doesn’t, then it will be breaking two major promises; bringing an end to austerity and ‘levelling up’ all of the country.