Local Government Finance

I intend to make a few brief remarks about Poole borough council. It is an excellent, well-run council but it is 43rd out of the 46 unitary authorities when it comes to funding. Its formula funding per head is £191.95 whereas the average for unitary authorities is £376.96, nearly twice as much, and the highest is £603.31, which is three times as much. The authority is struggling and having great difficulty containing council tax because of all the burdens on it. We mentioned the concessionary transport scheme earlier. Poole loses out: there is a funding gap of some £500,000 in that scheme, which falls on the council tax payer. Poole has had to put an additional £1 million a quarter into services for older people, £481,000 into services for those with disabilities, and £91,000 into waste services. Equal pay is also a major issue for local government, and Poole council will probably have to put £500,000 into that. However, in the three years of the settlement, Poole's increases will be 2.2 per cent., 1.8 per cent. and 1.5 per cent. That is about half the increase announced earlier by the Minister. Nobody would expect Poole to be at the top of the table, or even necessarily in the middle of the table. The real concern for Poole borough council is the spread of funding between those at the top and those at the bottom. A lot of services cost the same anywhere, such as teachers' salaries and so on. That is putting real pressure on my constituents. The Minister said that the settlement is tight. It is a tight settlement nationally, but it is a very tight settlement for those authorities that are funded at similar levels to Poole borough council. Things will be very difficult over the next three years. Poole has brought in some very low council tax increases for two or three years, but it looks like this year the increase will have to be 4.9 per cent. That is a pity. Many of my constituents have assets in the form of homes but are income poor and struggle to pay the rising council tax bills. The Local Government Association pointed out the major costs that local authorities face this year, for example, social care and migration. It stated that, in its opinion, there was a £1.3 billion shortfall. As we have heard, specific taxes on local authorities, such as landfill tax—the £144 million that goes back to the Treasury—and the changes in court charges, will place a much larger burden on local government. My principal point is that I believe that my constituents are being unfairly treated. That applies not only to local government but police, fire and rescue and a range of other matters. Our outcomes are not too bad, but that is difficult to maintain against a general background of poor funding. I suspect that, to do the subject justice, I need to apply for an Adjournment debate, but I wanted to make those brief comments in the debate tonight.