Cornwall Councillor's letter warns government of 'financial abyss'

Councillor David Harris has written to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Michael Gove MP

Cornwall Council's deputy leader has written to the government about the "chronic underfunding" he said was putting services under pressure.

Councillor David Harris's letter to Michael Gove MP described the situation as a "financial abyss".

He said more funds were needed to support social care, childrens' services and health.

The government said it had increased funding to the council by nearly 7% this year.

Some other local authorities, including Birmingham City Council and Nottingham City Council have declared themselves effectively bankrupt in recent months.

Earlier this week, Somerset Council said it needed to find £100m to avoid bankruptcy.

Speaking after sending the letter, Mr Harris said: "We are not on the brink of going bankrupt, but the point I have made is that with the added pressures we have, some of which are peculiar to Cornwall, looking out two or three years then I can see us being in the same bad position as a number of other councils are in today."

His letter blamed "years of chronic underfunding" due to an "archaic funding formula" that he said does not reflect Cornwall's ageing population or the "deprivation in areas such as social care, children's services and health."

Mr Harris wrote: "I have seen how tightly our finances are run but I have now almost reached the stage of throwing my hands in the air in despair.

"Whichever way we turn we see financial issues that are outside of our control."

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said it was "aware of Cornwall's concerns around their finances and are discussing these concerns with the council."

They added: "We have announced a funding package worth over £64bn to support councils in England to deliver services - an almost £4bn increase on last year's package.

"For Cornwall Council, the provisional local government finance settlement makes available £663.2m in 2024-25, a 6.9% increase on 2023-24."

In a previous letter to the government sent in November 2023, Mr Harris expressed the council's concerns about the financial sustainability of local government.