County Council faces cuts to grants
Worcestershire County Council has been
notified that it faces cuts in grant funding of over £9.5million
(revenue £3.2m, capital £2m, LAA Reward Grant £4.4m), after the
Government announced details of the contribution local authorities
will make to help reduce the national deficit.
Government announced on June 10 details of the
£1.166billion local government across the country is to contribute,
with one of the biggest reductions in Worcestershire coming
from the education Area Based Grant, which provides funding to
Children's Services. Road safety and integrated transport are other
areas affected.
The break-down of cuts are:
1.
Revenue (money used to run day to day
business)
· Department for
Education ABG - £2.5million
· Home Office ABG –
£57,000
· Road Safety –
£310,000
· Supporting People
Administration ABG - £330,000
2.
Capital (money used for specific projects or new
builds)
· Integrated
Transport - £1.33million
· De-trunking grant
– £430,000
· Road safety -
£260,000
3.
Local Area Agreement reward grant -
£4.4million
4.
Local Authority Business Growth Incentive Scheme (LABGI) -
£205,000
Cllr Adrian Hardman, Worcestershire
County Council's Cabinet Member for Finance, said: "Of
course these reductions in grants are significant but we in
Worcestershire have been preparing for financial challenges for a
while now which we believe puts us in a strong position to adjust
to the cuts.
"It is too early to say what the impact of
these reductions on specific services will be and it is clear that
more financial challenges are to come, but we are committed to
identifying more efficient ways of doing things and delivering an
authority which is fit for purpose and able to maintain high levels
of services with less money."