Local Government Finance

One of the things that I have learned during my first few months in this job is that every council regards itself as uniquely disadvantaged by central Government funding decisions, and every council has a special case unique to its circumstances. I ask my hon. Friend not to compare the position of Sheffield with that of Rotherham, Doncaster or Barnsley, which in many ways look enviously at Sheffield's success in the past 10 years—I know that, because one of those is an area that I represent. I ask him instead to look at the extent of the Sheffield increase—at the fact that there is an increase in all grants to Sheffield next year of more than £30 million—and in particular I hope he will work with the Government to make sure that Sheffield city council and others make best use of the new working neighbourhoods fund, which will help to tackle some of the problems that he is concerned about in Darnall.