More levelling up...
Research by the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities (SIGOMA) has revealed that between 2010/11 and 2023/24, the 10% of local authorities with the highest levels of deprivation faced funding cuts averaging 28.3% - while the 10% of councils with the lowest levels of deprivation faced funding cuts averaging 10.1%. Cllr Sir Steve Houghton, leader of Barnsley Council and chair of SIGOMA, warns that the "gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider", while the Government has reneged on a promise to reallocate business rates. "It looks like a political decision to support areas that are better off as opposed to areas that are worse off", he said, "In terms of levelling up, it's exactly the opposite, it's levelling poor areas down as they are not getting the funding they would have done."