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The review, which was intended to create a fairer system for allocating funding to local authorities, will instead entrench historic inequalities and impose significant financial challenges on councils like North Somerset. While the detail of the settlement will not be known until just before Christmas, current forecasts suggest North Somerset could lose more than £17 million in government funding – a cut of nearly 20 per cent.
Cllr Mike Bell, Leader of North Somerset Council, said: “The so-called Fair Funding Review is a sham. It papers over years of neglect, it refuses to fix the warped council tax system, and it withholds the basic funding we need to run essential services. It ties councils’ hands, then blames us for the consequences.
"Instead of repairing a broken framework, ministers have chosen to worsen it. Communities like North Somerset, with lower council tax bases, are hit hardest because we cannot raise enough locally to meet soaring demand.
"We were promised a fair deal, yet what we have been handed is a raid on our budget that will force brutal decisions on local services. This is not levelling-up, it is austerity repackaged.”
The council warns that the impact of these cuts will be felt across essential services, including adult and children’s social care, which are already under severe pressure. North Somerset has one of the lowest council tax levels in the South West, leaving it at a structural disadvantage under the Government’s approach.
Cllr Bell added: “We will continue to fight for North Somerset, and we are calling on the government to rethink these reckless proposals before they inflict lasting damage on our communities. As it stands, this approach shifts the cost of national policy failures onto councils and drives council tax bills even higher.”