Extra funding for local councils: Wolverhampton to get to get extra £118.5 m over three years, Dudley £75.9m
Cash-strapped councils in the West Midlands are set to get hundreds of millions of pounds in extra funding over the next three years under a review of the government grant system.
Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Housing, Local Government and Communities, announced draft local authority funding settlements for the next three years, which will see Wolverhampton get an extra £1118.5 million and Dudley and extra £75.9 million.
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The news was welcomed by Councillor Stephen Simkins, the leader of Labour-run Wolverhampton Council, who said it represented a 35 per cent increase in the council's spending power.
He said the Government was finally putting right years of underfunding from the previous administration.
"Fourteen years of Tory government robbed Wolverhampton blind," said Councillor Simkins. "Now Labour is putting things right.
"Today's settlement means £118.5 million more for our city, a 35 per cent increase in our spending power over the next three years. And this three-year settlement finally gives us the certainty we need to plan ahead and deliver better services for residents. This is huge for Wolverhampton.”
Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Conservative-led Dudley Council, sounded a more cautious note, but said on the face of it, it sounded good news.
