Council could lose £18m in proposed funding reform

East Sussex County Council argues proposed funding reforms would impact its services

East Sussex County Council says it could lose up to £18m if government funding reforms move ahead.

On Tuesday, councillor Nick Bennett, the authority's lead member for resources and climate change, signed off a consultation response to government proposals known as the Fair Funding Review 2.0 (FFR2.0).

The government says the proposals aim to make the funding process simpler and change how council funding is calculated.

Council officers say the reforms are "flawed" and could see East Sussex lose between £12m and £18m by 2028/29, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The changes would see the government use "assessed need" as one of the criteria to determine the final amount of money councils receive by adjusting the figure to reflect their specific circumstances.

The council says it would lose out as the adjustment is based on median wages, which are slightly lower than the national average.

It said this approach would not work as costs of social care are not aligned with local median wages.

The government is also proposing another funding assessment criteria, the LDRS reports, which takes into account the amount of council tax local authorities receive.

But county council officers say this approach is "grossly unfair" and "does not reflect reality" as not every household pays its council tax bill and not every council charges £2,000 per year.

East Sussex County Council says the deduction would "significantly penalise" the authority as it has a "relatively large council tax base".

In its consultation response, the council says the government should "rethink" how it calculates this deduction or "give local authorities more control over how they set their council tax bills".