Don't let richest councils hog funding, say MPs

A "broken" system of council funding has led to some councils in Britain receiving more than double the funding they require, while some of the poorest receive significantly less than they are assessed to need, an analysis of this year's local authority figures has revealed.

Figures published by the Department of Communities and Local Government show that councils like Surrey are getting £62m more from central Government coffers than they are judged to require this year while city councils like Birmingham will get £21m less than their assessed need.

Overall, one in five local authorities will receive funding that is more than 10 per cent higher or lower than they judged to require. In one of the worse examples, Wokingham Council will receive double the funding it actually needs while Redbridge gets a cut of around 10 per cent.

Today, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee will call for radical changes to the way in which the Government allocates money to councils and police authorities.

"There are a lot of things wrong with the formulae that have led to very unfair allocations," said Margaret Hodge, chair of the committee.