Tory Cabinet ministers 'suffer least from Treasury cuts' to local councils

'It is disgraceful that the most deprived areas in our country are bearing the brunt of the Tory government’s ideological cuts to local services when the least deprived areas'

Health Secretary and MP for South West Surrey Jeremy Hunt (Getty)

Three councils represented by David Cameron’s top Cabinet ministers have suffered the least from the Treasury’s cuts, an analysis of the government's austerity drive has revealed.

Windsor and Maidenhead, Surrey, and Windsor council authorities have all experienced the lowest cuts to their budgets, despite being among three of the least deprived areas in the country. They cover the constituencies of Theresa May, Jeremy Hunt, Chris Grayling, Philip Hammond and Michael Gove – all members of David Cameron’s Cabinet.

Liverpool, Knowsley, Hackney and Manchester, however, bear the brunt of the cuts despite being among some of the most deprived areas in the UK. Knowsley, for example, has suffered cuts of £739 per head.

The analysis, by Labour, claims that under the cuts implemented since 2011/12 and those planned to end of this Parliament, Labour councils face a 21 per cent fall on average, compared with 13 per cent for Conservative councils.

Jon Trickett, shadow secretary of state for communities and local government, said to the Observer:“It is disgraceful that the most deprived areas in our country are bearing the brunt of the Tory government’s ideological cuts to local services when the least deprived areas, which happen to be home to five of David Cameron’s top ministers, are seeing the least amount of cuts.

“To add insult to injury, these deprived areas did not receive a penny in the £300m transitional grant whereas the three least deprived received over £33m. Most people would come to the conclusion that the Tories are ruling in their own interest.”

A government spokesperson said: “As we continue to deal with Labour’s debt, our long-term funding settlement for councils is fair, and ensures that those facing the highest demand for services continue to receive more funding and have higher spending power than less deprived authorities.

“Average spending power per dwelling for the 10% most deprived authorities is around 23% more than for the least deprived 10% in 2016/17.”

In February it emerged that a new £300 million relief fund would overwhelmingly help Conservative-held areas. A separate Labour analysis showed that 83% of the new £300 million two-year fund will go to Tory-run councils, mostly in the southern shires.