Summary
Gloucestershire has been short-changed for years as funding fails to reflect the true cost of delivering social care, fixing potholes and providing public services. That’s the view of Shire Hall chiefs, who have launched a petition as part of the Fairer Funding for Gloucestershire campaign setting out five key areas where Gloucestershire County Council wants the Government to act.
Details
And now residents are being urged to back the campaign, calling on the Government to do more to protect the county’s essential local services such as looking after children and young people with disabilities, social care and managing the highway network.
The county council says it has been short-changed for years, meaning funding arrangements fail to reflect the actual cost of delivering services across a large and predominantly rural county.
Their petition calls for a fair funding settlement that properly recognises the higher cost of delivering services across a rural county and for an end to the long-standing injustice in schools and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) funding.
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The council also wants the Government to invest properly in the road network by providing enough money to tackle the existing backlog of £90m and the annual £15 million gap in the maintenance fund to prevent it growing again. And it believes the cost of local government reorganisation should be covered to prevent county taxpayers being saddled with an estimated £22 million bill.
The campaign also calls for immediate meaningful reform and funding that reflects the inflation and rising demand in social care. And it has the support of the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, Reform, Green Party and independents at Shire Hall.
Council leader Lisa Spivey (LD, South Cerney) said: “For too long, our county has been expected to deliver essential services without receiving the right amount of Government funding. “This is not about special treatment – it is about fairness. Gloucestershire must have the resources it needs to keep our communities safe, support our vulnerable residents, educate our children and maintain the roads we all use.
Without fairer funding, pressure on these services will only grow.
Report source: Gloucestershire Live
