Windfall: Why more cash could be on the way for 'remote' rural counties of Staffordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire
Rural councils are to get more money to pay for the cost of "remoteness" as part of a funding shake-up, ministers have suggested after countryside authorities raised concerns that they would lose out.
The pledge could benefit the rural areas that surround the West Midlands – Shropshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said that "travel time" for services such as bin collection, transport and homecare visits would be taken into account under the Government's plans.
Ms Rayner, who is also the Local Government Secretary, announced proposals last week for councils in deprived areas, including the Black Country, to receive a greater share of funding as part of changes to allocation rules.
The Government said the overhaul would account for "remoteness", but some rural authorities claimed the plans could "overcompensate" for deprivation and see them lose out to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds.
Speaking to the Local Government Association annual conference, Ms Rayner said the new approach would help "every part of the country" to manage "their unique pressures".
Rural counties in the Midlands contribute to the region's economy through industry, agriculture as well as tourism, with big attractions such as the Severn Valley Railway and Blists Hill.
But they also have challenges, with rural communities not having the amenities of urban areas, and work often seasonal.
Ms Rayner said: "We will replace the decade-old data, and for the first time, properly take into account factors such as deprivation and poverty, the cost of remoteness faced by rural communities, meaning bus drivers and refuse collectors have to travel miles to serve their communities..
"We will take into account the varying ability to raise tax locally, with lower house prices impacting on councils' budgets, temporary accommodation and the impact of daytime visitors on major cities and coastal towns alike."
Local government minister Jim McMahon said both deprivation and remoteness had been factored into the plans as he faced questions from the audience about how funding for rural areas would be decided.
"If you're a rural area, you will see that we've taken into account remoteness, so that travel time, as Angela Rayner said, in terms of appointments, emptying bins, homecare visits, and the like," he said. "And there's an extra cost as part of that."
