Hopes of fairer funding welcomed by Blackpool's council leader as opponent warns of town hall debt 'doubling'

The resort is among local authorities around the country struggling to make ends meet, with some including Birmingham City Council declaring itself bankrupt.

Coun Lynn Williams, leader of Blackpool Council, said she welcomed plans by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to consult over proposed changes to the current funding system.

The Labour government says it wants to move to a system which matches funding with need and will launch a consultation next month. This is based on the Fair Funding Review launched by the Conservative government, but never implemented.

Coun Williams said places like Blackpool had been hardest hit by funding cuts over the last 14 years. The council currently has just £74,000 in its general reserves, with other reserves standing at £25m with that figure dropping from £40m in 2022.

Coun Williams said: "If we are to support those people and families in most need, funding from government should reflect that need. We have been making that case for a long time and pressed our new government to deliver for the people in our community.

"Fourteen years of the Conservatives destroying the social fabric cannot be corrected in one budget, but we welcome the move from our new government to put funding where it is needed and can do the most good. We look forward to the detailed settlement next month."

The government says there will also be consultation on the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26, which includes a new £600m Recovery Grant for areas most in need, an increase to the Social Care Grant by £680m and a new £250m Children’s Social Care Prevention Grant.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: "Whilst there’s no magic wand to fix what we’ve inherited, we’re taking the necessary steps to fix the foundations of local government by creating a fairer system and ensuring every penny is spent on the services so many people rely on every day.”

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Coun Paul Galley, leader of the Conservatives on Blackpool Council, raised concerns about the council's finances at a meeting of the full council when he warned the overspend came as the council's debt had doubled to £545m.

He said major overspends had previously been only in Children's Services, but this year Adult Social Care is set to overspend by £3m while Growth and Prosperity is £4.5m behind target, on top of an expected overspend of £7m in Children's Services.