£17million black hole warning sparks call to 'level up' funding in County Durham

Durham County Council (DCC) has already received £33.2million in emergency cash from a £3.2billion government fund to help councils tackle Covid-19.

This included an initial allocation of £18.6million and a second reduced allocation of £14.6million.

However, costs and lost income as a result of the pandemic in County Durham are currently estimated at £50million, with the local authority facing a shortfall of around £17million.

This week, council chiefs called for assurances over future government funding after warning that coronavirus could affect the authority for years to come.

“The council’s second allocation of funding was reduced by 22% because the Government moved to a very crude population basis of sharing out the money, whereas the first allocation was based on need, “deputy council leader and cabinet member for finance, Coun Alan Napier said.

“Members of cabinet will know that I have argued year after year that resources need to be allocated based on need and we have again lobbied the Government to set out the requirements to fully fund the council’s Covid-19 pressures and to allocate any future funding based on need.

“I will be watching future allocations of funding with interest. The effects of Covid-19 are likely to be with us for years.

“I’m calling on the Government to ensure local authorities are properly funded to be able to lead on the recovery of our local communities and businesses.”

Coun Napier was speaking at a virtual cabinet meeting on June 5 – the first to be live-streamed in line with social distancing guidelines.

“A continuation of austerity is not the way forward,” he added.

“To help us help our local communities, we need the Government to level up our resources quickly and then look at how they can make up for the years of austerity by providing more funding to allow us to invest in regeneration and to get our local economy moving again as quickly as possible.”

Actions to help businesses and households

At the cabinet meeting, councillors discussed the actions taken in response to Covid-19 from business grants, moving services online and council tax support to setting up a community support hub.

The council has already assisted 90,000 vulnerable residents to date, including more than 13,000 who have been encouraged to shield from infection because they are at extreme risk of illness.

Other actions included delivering more than 480,000 items of Personal Protective Equipment to the social care sector and providing an extra £100,000 for each Area Action Partnership to support local groups to deliver help in local areas.

More than 8,500 business grants have also been allocated to companies across the county, totalling in excess of £95 million alongside reductions in business rates liabilities for more than 2,000 firms totalling approximately £49 million.

Council bosses praised the “immense efforts” of council staff, community groups and frontline workers continuing to provide support during the pandemic.

And all cabinet members said their condolences go out to the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives.

Although DCC is moving towards a ‘recovery’ period with more services coming online, council chiefs warned that the challenges from Covid-19 were “far from over.”

Thanks to council staff

Council leader, Coun Simon Henig, said: “I would like to thank all staff across the council for all of their hard work over recent weeks and months.

“I would like to thank all of our communities right across County Durham and to pay particular tribute to the large number of community groups and volunteers who have been working so hard in their own areas as well as all of the frontline staff working across all organisations.

“Together their efforts have been immense.

“This has been an unprecedented period, and as the [cabinet] report states, one of the most profound challenges society has faced in more than a generation.

“Although our plans are now turning to recovery and the gradual restoration of services we must all accept that unfortunately the challenge is far from over.”

For more information on the county council’s response to coronavirus, visit: www.durham.gov.uk/coronavirus

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.