Care cuts would be ‘perverse’, says Durham County Council funding boss

Durham County Council got a near-£5m boost for the departments for the coming financial year. The handout, from a pot worth £410m nationally, was considered an acknowledgement that more money was needed to provide safe services.

On Tuesday, head of corporate finance Jeff Garfoot warned councillors that ministers have still not committed to maintaining the cash flow beyond 2020.

He said: “This is the first time the government has recognised the biggest pressure on councils in on children’s services, not adults.

“The assumption is this funding is going to continue.

“It would be strange for the government to give us this and not give us anything the next year– that would be particularly perverse.”

Local authorities face financial uncertainty in the coming years due to the government’s ongoing Fair Funding Review.The review is expected to overhaul funding formulas, but its findings are unlikely to be known before 2021, leaving many councils’ long-term spending plans in limbo. According to Mr Garfoot, Durham County Council is planning for the possibile loss of about £10m, with government funding almost completely cut and the council expected to largely fund itself from its own council tax and business rate income.

Across England, this is expected to hit deprived areas harder than more affluent areas which have access to bigger tax bases and have the potential to be more financially independent.

Mr Garfoot said: “CSP for a deprived area should be higher than an affluent area because we have more deprived children and people in more affluent areas can usually afford to pay for their own social care.

“It’s disingenuous when ministers say it’s OK to cut local authorities’ with higher core spending power – they’re the ones who need it most.”

According to council figures, County Durham’s core spending power per household is £1,727 – compared to more than £2,000 for households in Surrey.