Council Leader works to secure additional funding for Northern councils and Barnsley

As Chair of SIGOMA, the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities covering 48 Metropolitan and Unitary Councils, Cllr Sir Steve Houghton CBE, Leader of Barnsley Council, has lobbied the government for a better deal for urban councils. That work has been rewarded with increased funding for those places.

Cllr Sir Steve Houghton CBE, Leader of Barnsley Council, said:

This has delivered Barnsley Council’s Final Local Government Finance Settlement, which includes a Recovery grant uplift of £10 million over the next three years. This doesn’t fix the very difficult challenges we face, but it’s a significant help.

"In Barnsley, we’ve proposed not to put council tax up by the maximum amount this year. That’s not because we don’t need that money, it’s because we know so many people in Barnsley don’t have that money to spare. We’re only able to do that due to many years of being a financially well-run council. We’ve made difficult decisions when needed and have had a long-term approach to our day-to-day finances.

But we've long argued that the model for local government funding isn’t fair. It’s not sustainable to force areas like Barnsley, where there’s extremely high demands on services like children's and adult social care, to simply pass those costs onto local council tax payers year after year.

This additional funding is an important step towards fairer funding, targeting money where it’s needed most. This will help us deliver the high-quality public services local people need, like caring for older people and fixing potholes.