Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard joins calls for fairer funding settlement
Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard has joined calls for a fairer government funding settlement for Shropshire.
Mr Pritchard last night said he had urged the government “in the strongest possible terms” to give Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin a fairer deal.
He made the comments as Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski and his fellow Conservative, North Shropshire Owen Paterson, both warned of their intention to vote against the government over the Local Government Finance Settlement.
Mr Kawczynski said he was leading a rebellion of 14 MPs over the issue.
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Responding to a call from Shaun Davies, the Labour leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, to join the rebellion in a bid to secure more funding for the local authority, Mr Pritchard said: “I have communicated in the strongest possible terms to ministers that Shropshire’s financial settlement should be fairer and reflect the county and borough’s particular needs.
“Councillor Davies is from a party who nearly bankrupted the country, so his calls are enormously hollow.”
Mr Davies had urged both MPs representing the Telford and Wrekin area to vote against the government.
He said: “We have the second lowest council tax in the Midlands, we don’t have car park charges like other areas. We are 70 per cent rural as a borough, with big challenges linked to our new town legacy. Will they vote for a settlement that will take further money and resources from our borough?”
The vote on February 7 sets out how much money councils receive from government. Mr Kawczynski, who was last night meeting with government ministers to discuss the settlement, said: “I’m leading my first ever rebellion against the government. I’m taking 14 Members of Parliament with me.
“We are demanding additional finance for local government. We believe there’s not enough funding for rural counties.
“We are disadvantaged in comparison to metropolitan and inner city areas. After the meeting there will be an extensive week of negotiations.”
A letter from Telford & Wrekin Council to Telford MP Lucy Allan and Mr Pritchard earlier this month said: “Regrettably, our latest budget proposals will see the council facing grant cuts and inflationary pressures continue to make further savings of another £7 million next year and a further £6m in 2019/20 on top of the £110m we have already saved from our budget since 2010.”
Telford MP Lucy Allan was approached for a comment but had not responded at the time of publication.
