Under the Provisional Settlement proposals, the gap in funding between rural and urban areas will, in fact increase. There is therefore a continuation of historic underfunding and unfairness for rural communities.

Once again, through the proposals, rural residents, communities, and businesses will, through their principal local authorities, find themselves in comparison to their urban counterparts both:

The gap in funding is increasing yet further

The Government yesterday announced the Provisional Settlement for Local Government for 2023/2024 and launched the consultation on the proposals which close on 16th January 2023. This followed a Local Government finance policy statement which was issued last week giving an indication of the content of the settlement and some key principles to guide their approach for the next two years in relation to local government finance.

The Government published the provisional local government finance settlement for 2022-23 on 16 December 2021

The Rural Services Network welcomes the 2022-2023 Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, announced today by the Rt Hon Michael Gove. The RSN is the national champion for rural services, representing 115 rural local authorities across England, and campaigns for fair funding for rural areas.

The Rural Services Network has highlighted the importance of the Government Releasing Opportunity and Removing Barriers for rural areas in its submission to the Spending Review 2021

Cuts to youth work services in rural areas have left young people at risk of grooming from criminal gangs, poor mental health and a lack of employment support, according to a new report

Research by the Rural Services Network and economics consultancy Pragmatix showing that the Government’s Levelling Up Fund is leaving rural communities unfairly disadvantaged in comparison to ‘red wall’ areas

East Riding MPs Graham Stuart and Sir Greg Knight today welcomed the new proposals from the government on rural funding. Read more

The grant set up to help rural authorities deliver services in the countryside has been given a massive increase in the government’s local government finance settlement announced yesterday. Read more

Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness and Chairman of the Rural Fair Share Campaign, this week led a delegation of MPs to meet the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Greg Clark, about local government funding for rural areas. Read more