Rural councils are in danger of being neglected as the Government lavishes attention and funding on the big cities, according to the authorities themselves.
Attention has tended to focus on the impact of funding cuts in cities such as Birmingham, which recently announced it was cutting another 1,000 jobs – taking its total workforce to 14,000 from 21,000 in just four years.
But it’s also been the cities and major towns that have received funding from schemes such as “city deals”, which involve central government giving councils cash or (more often) permission to borrow money, in return for a guarantee that the funds will be used to help the economy grow.
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Rural areas, meanwhile, feel neglected.
And although it’s a touchy subject, they are also hoping that the Government will finally give them what they would see as a fair deal in relation to the cites – which have traditionally been much better funded.
Cities and urban conurbations have suffered bigger cuts but they also got more money from Government in the first place.
They would say that they need it, and perhaps they’re right but neighbouring rural authorities point out that they actually deal with many of the same issues, such as unemployment and deprivation.
The county councils have set out their complaints in a submission to the Commons Local Government Committee written by the County Councils Network, which represents Hererfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire councils among others.
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The committee is looking at “fiscal devolution” – the ways in which local authorities can be given far more control over their own finances.
But county councils complain that the Government assumes that only major cities and urban areas – called “city regions” in the fashionable jargon – are capable of managing their own affairs.
In their submission to the inquiry, the County Councils warn: “County Councils Network (CNN) member councils believe fiscal devolution is essential to reviving the national economy and are committed to supporting the recovery.
“However, CNN believe that there is further scope for fiscal devolution in England, particularly in areas not already benefiting from government policy.”
Failing to give the counties a fair shake will mean that parts of the country miss out as the economy starts to grow again, the counties warn. And it reinforces an unfairness that already exists, according to the authorities.
“Cities already enjoy greater effective freedoms, flexibilities, growth incentives and localised Whitehall budgets than their ounty peers. Extending further powers and funding to cities while excluding counties from the process could exaggerate this situation to the extent of defining access to decision-making power by where a voter lives, ignoring local needs and growth potential.”
Country councils were also at pains to stress that they are dealing with issues of poverty and the challenge of meeting the needs of an aging population, just like the cities.
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The counties called for a range of measures, including:
* Enterprise zones to promote business investment. These are typically areas with relaxed planning restrictions and tax breaks for new firms
* Allowing councils to keep a portion of additional tax revenue from economic growth in their area
* Allowing councils to borrow against future tax revenues to pay for schemes to promote economic development, a scheme known as Tax Increment Financing.
* Giving local authorities more control over skills programmes and schemes designed to help people into work
* Allowing councils to borrow money by issuing municipal bonds.
Some of these things taking place, but mainly in cities, the counties said.
They complained: “Fiscal devolution has been narrowly focused on the core cities and city regions.
“Whilst this is not a zero-sum game between cities and counties on who is better placed to implement fiscal devolution, there continues to be an uncritical acceptance of the view that groups of authorities serving large urban areas are more suited to devolution than counties. The County Councils Network strongly dispute this.”
There is no good reason to stop counties taking control over their own affairs – which would allow councils to play a much bigger role creating jobs, according to the CCN.
Adrian Hardman, leader of Worcestershire County Council said: “Any devolution of powers to some areas but not others may create inequalities and disadvantage the residents of those areas.
“If these powers were to be extended to authorities like Worcestershire then our residents could be part of any diverse economic recovery and enjoy the benefits of economic growth and not be disadvantaged because of where they live.”
Cities have their own complaints about the gap between government promises of devolution and the reality.
But the counties have a point. When devolution does happen, they’re rarely the ones to benefit from it.