2020
Council welcomes cash boost from Government following letter to PM
Date Posted: 12:51 PM on Wed, 29 April 2020Gedling Borough Council welcomes cash boost from Government in response to letter to Prime Minster to keep promise to reimburse councils
Gedling Borough Council has received £1.1 million from the Government’s latest £1.6 billion funding allocation for councils responding to the crisis caused by the Coronavirus outbreak. The Leader and Deputy Leader wrote to the Prime Minister on 17 April asking for reassurance that councils will be given whatever they need, as promised by the Secretary of State for Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to council leaders in conference calls earlier this month.
The Leader and Deputy Leader for Gedling Borough Council said in a joint statement:
“On 19 March Gedling Borough Council received just £54,182 of the Government’s £1.6 billion tranche of Covid-19 funding, this covered barely 6% of one month’s cost of the Coronavirus outbreak. The Government told councils ‘spend what it takes’ to fight this virus and protect communities and promised ‘we’ll reimburse you’.
On 17 April we wrote to the Prime Minister to urge him to ensure the Government kept to its promise to fully reimburse councils for the huge financial hit they’ve taken as a result of this pandemic. We set out the facts that Coronavirus was set to cost Gedling Borough Council £960,000 from additional costs and loss of income in one month alone. The cost of the virus on the council’s finances is now estimated to be £3.5 million over the course of the year. To put this in context, that’s 30% the council’s totally yearly budget.
We’re pleased the Prime Minister listened to our case and as a result Gedling Borough Council has received £1.1m in the second tranche of £1.6 billion Covid-19 the Government announced yesterday evening. This is a welcome step in the right direction to help protect vital local services for our residents and help safeguard the jobs of our council’s heroic key workers.
Our thanks to the Prime Minister for listening to the case we made on behalf of our residents and communities in Gedling Borough. This additional funding is welcome but it will only cover six weeks of lost income for the council - we urge the Government to keep to their promise to fully reimburse councils, so that we can protect vital services for residents and play our full role in helping our communities and country with the recovery from the impacts of this indiscriminate virus.”
ENDS
The full details of the Government’s allocation can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-emergency-funding-for-local-government
Here’s the full breakdown for the East Midlands
Ashfield: £1,282,702
Newark & Sherwood: £1,220,529
Rushcliffe: £1,189,532
Gedling: £1,178,385
Bassetlaw: £1,172,127
Broxtowe: £1,136,335
Mansfield: £1,089,262