Northumberland council leader fears rural councils could lose out on funding to deprived inner-city areas

Glen Sanderson is concerned that, following the Spending Review, funding will be prioritised for deprived metropolitan councils rather than county councils like Northumberland.

Documents published as part of the Spending Review said that while funding for councils would increase overall, reforms would see funding “effectively targeted” based on an updated assessment of need.

The Tory-led administration at Northumberland County Council has been critical of the Government’s changes to council funding, with particular fury at the decision to scrap the rural services delivery grant.

Coun Sanderson said: “It is always the small print that is the important part. We are genuinely really concerned.

“As far as local Government is concerned, we have a feeling that inner-city, deprived councils will get mroe funding and we will get the same or less. We as a large rural council will have to do without.

“The review talks about how areas with the most need will receive a greater level of funding. We are doing a massive amount of work to tackle inequalities in Northumberland – the Government should be helping us.”

While there are some well-off areas in Northumberland, the south east of the county and towns such as Ashington and Blyth face significant deprivation.

According to the 2021 census, the Copwen ward in Blyth and the Hirst area of Ashington had the highest levels of deprivation in the county, with more than 64% of households classed as deprived.

The Government has said details on future funding settlements will be provided in due course.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “We are determined to make progress on the financial situation we have inherited in our councils, which is why the Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding for local services that communities rely on.

“This is in addition to the £69 billion we have already injected this year to boost council finances, including £416 million for Northumberland County Council, and an average overall real terms increase in the resources available to councils of 2.6% per year between 2025-26 and 2028-29.”