Council facing funding cuts far higher than national average

Rochdale Borough Council

Rochdale Borough Council is facing cuts to central government funding which pay for general services in the borough.

Funding for 'Core Spending' will be cut by 4.6% from 2015/16 to 2019/20, the highest in Greater Manchester and considerably higher than the national average of just 0.5%.

The exact amount that this equates to will be revealed in March after a Budget Fixing Council is held.

A spokesperson for RMBC says that Rochdale is facing bigger cuts because the borough relies on government grants much more than other local authorities in the country.

He added: “There are a number of reasons why our Core Spending Power is worse than the National Average. Rochdale Borough Council is more reliant on Government grants to provide services due to the tax base of the borough.

“As central government reduces their funding to local authorities this reduces the Core Spending Power for Rochdale which has a greater impact than to an authority who is less reliant on government grants and can raise the majority of their income through council tax and business rates locally

“An element of the Core Spending Power is calculated on the council tax base for an authority. Rochdale’s council tax base has been assumed to increase by an equivalent of 300 Band D properties per annum in comparison to another authority who had been assumed to increase by 1,500. This means that the core spending power of the other authority will increase at a greater rate than Rochdale’s based on Government calculations.”