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South Tyneside funding cuts £15 million greater than suggested

Council bosses have revealed the true scale of Government funding cuts in South Tyneside.

South Tyneside Council yesterday received its provisional government funding settlement for 2015/16.

This confirmed that the Council will be required to make £22 million of savings in 2015/16 in line with its medium term financial plans as a result of Government funding cuts.

The Government published figures suggesting that the funding for the Council will only reduce by £6.8 million.

This is misleading as the Government figures include monies which are shared with the NHS to support community based health services.

The Government figures do not take into account the cost pressures facing local authorities such as South Tyneside for the increasing costs of caring for our elderly and vulnerable residents, general inflation and reductions in other specific Government funding.

The level of government grant cut is amongst the highest in the country and requires the Council to make further reductions in expenditure next year.

So far, the Council has had to make savings in excess of £100 million despite having higher needs than other Council’s across the Country.

Lead Member for Resources and Innovation at South Tyneside Council, Councillor Ed Malcolm, said: “Once again South Tyneside Council has been hit hard despite having some of the highest areas of need.

“The new formula that the Government has introduced to distribute funding takes no real account of need meaning that this Council faces significant cuts at a time when local residents rely on the services we provide.

“We will of course continue to lobby the Government hard to recognise our position as we have done in previous years.

“If South Tyneside Council received the average level of grant cut we would have an additional £4.5 million to spend on vital services next year.

“We will continue to work hard to deliver a balanced budget for 2015/16 in the light of these unprecedented grant cuts.”

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