Rushcliffe Borough Council faces a ‘huge cut in funding’ as a result of the Government’s planned financial settlement for local government next year, which the Conservative Leader of Rushcliffe Borough Council has described as ‘punishing success to reward failure.’
Cllr Neil Clarke MBE has hit out at the Labour Government for cutting funding for Rushcliffe Borough Council, while ‘seemingly rewarding councils such as Nottingham City Council for getting into financial difficulty’:
Cllr Clarke said:
“Rushcliffe Borough Council is debt-free, invests tens of millions of pounds into our services and has the lowest council tax element in Nottinghamshire and one of the lowest in the country.
“This cut in funding feels like we are being forced either into maximising our Council Tax or cutting services, while councils like Nottingham City Council get an increase in funding. This is truly shocking.”
“We will be writing to our MPs, including Labour MP James Naish for Rushcliffe, to vote against this and stand up to the Chancellor on behalf of our residents. Rushcliffe residents are being clobbered by this Government on taxes, and this is another example of areas like ours being punished for running a council as you should.”
Cllr Davinder Virdi, Cabinet Member for Finance, Transformation and Governance, has criticised the Core Spending Review, published by the Government on Wednesday: “It shows a reduction in core spending of 2.4% next year, 2.7% the year after, and 2.5% the year after that, based on 2025 figures. This is also assuming the Council increases the Council Tax by the maximum, allowing the Government to claim credit for providing funding which, in reality, residents themselves will be paying for.”
A petition has also been set up to show the strength of feeling here: https://c.org/LT4VRZxD8G
RELATED: • Rushcliffe MP welcomes first multi-year council funding settlement since 2020
