Fairer funding call backed unanimously by council

The councillors discussed a new funding formula on Tuesday

A call to provide fairer funding for Cornwall has been unanimously backed by councillors.

They said the government should give Cornwall Council a minimum of the national average for all of its services, including housing and education.

Cllr Colin Martin summed up the discussion: "Cornwall is not asking for a hand out, but for a hand up."

The vote was passed unanimously, with 78 votes for and none against.

'More stability'

Speaking ahead of the meeting, leader of the council, Cllr Taylor, said: “We need a fairer funding formula that gives justified weight to population profile, sparsity, deprivation and socio-economic factors that are driving demand and cost to ensure Cornwall can prosper."

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government said: "We will get local government back on its feet by doing the basics right.

“We will start by providing councils with more stability through multi-year funding settlements, ending competitive bidding for pots of money and reforming the local audit system to ensure value for money for the taxpayer.”

They added the government was preparing a draft financial statement for December.