Local Government Funding: North-west England

Jonathan Hinder Excerpts

Tuesday 21st October 2025 Westminster Hall

[Mr Morrison]

I completely agree. The point, when it comes to social care, is political will. All parties have talked about the importance of social care and of getting the funding right. There is no need to wait for three years; we should indeed crack on.

Regional growth drives national growth. If regions are not invested in, we cannot expect the country to thrive. There are ever-expanding divides between regions, which have consequences on the quality and even length of people’s lives. According to the Institute for Public Policy Research, transport illustrates that divide exceedingly well. In London, people receive £1,183 per head for transport, but in the north-west it is less than half that figure, at just £540 per person. In total, across the north, that is an investment gap of £140 billion.

Our growth is low and slow as a country because areas outside the south-east have been neglected time and again. Anne, another constituent of mine in Bramhall, wrote to me recently to explain her frustrations. She said:

“Residents are being asked to pay more while receiving less and now must pay extra just to maintain a service that was previously included. Public frustration is escalating rapidly across online forums, community groups, and social media. What can be done about this?”

It is no wonder the public are increasingly frustrated when core spending power for local government remains 16.4% lower in real terms this year compared with 2010. The services that local government provides are vital to people’s everyday lives: bin collections, green space maintenance, street cleaning and social care for our most vulnerable residents.

If local governments can no longer sustain those services, our country will decline rapidly as people’s everyday quality of life suffers. Although the guarantee of multiyear settlements and a move away from fragmented, ringfenced grants are a step in the right direction, that is still not enough. Those changes will not be felt and frustrations will continue to grow, especially as the Government continue to work on the basis that local authorities will continuously raise council tax by the maximum 4.99% each year.

[Jonathan Hinder (Pendle and Clitheroe) (Lab)]

I am pleased that the hon. Member is leading this debate and glad that he is raising the point of regional inequality. Does he agree that council tax is the most unfair, regressive tax in Britain, and that it is long overdue a proper overhaul to link property values to the amount of tax paid, as is not the case at the moment?

[Mr Morrison]

I thank the hon. Member for that intervention and agree completely that council tax is regressive, impacting the poorest in our communities. All parties should commit to finding a new way forward to reform it.

Councillors and council staff do not want to raise council tax. The public, already squeezed by a difficult cost of living crisis, will struggle to pay more time and again. It does not have to be that way. We must have the political will to empower our local governments to deliver their full potential. I want to outline to the Minister that politics is local. Chronic national issues will turn into deeper crisis if local governments continue to be squeezed to the point of no return. The Government must understand the benefits of investing in local authorities to do their jobs right and give the people of Cheadle, the north-west and all areas the good quality of life they deserve.

Giving all councils the power and resources to invest in community centres, parks, libraries, children’s centres and green spaces will restore people’s trust and respect, not just for their local authorities, but for central Government. We are now in a situation where the Government need to invest in councils just so that they can keep the lights on without fear of going bankrupt. It really is that serious.

Local government is capable; given the resources, it will deliver for our communities. We need to invest now without delay. Proper support now to address challenges earlier will lead to fewer councils requiring more intensive and costly interventions later down the line. Local government is the linchpin for change. It is a pool of potential waiting to be unlocked, and I urge the Government to do just that.