Today (11 January) Dr Luke Evans, Member of Parliament for Bosworth has called upon ministers to deliver on their promise of fairer funding for Leicestershire.

Highlighting the historical anomaly which for many years has seen Leicestershire amongst the lowest funded of all county councils Dr Luke reminded Minister Luke Hall that “If Leicestershire was funded at the same level as London it would receive an extra £374 per resident.”

Dr Evans asked when the situation may be expected to change?

In his response Mr Hall, the Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government said “On the Government benches we certainly agree we need an updated and fairer method for distributing funds within local government. This year, I hope he understands we’ve had to focus on supporting councils through the pandemic, but once this is over we will revisit our shared priority for funding reform.”

After questioning the Minister Dr Luke added “Of course at this time of crisis the pandemic must come first. But Leicestershire has been the poor relation for far too long, and the call for fairer funding will not be going away. I will continue to press ministers to ensure the campaign isn’t forgotten and that Leicestershire residents get a fair proportion of funding so that they can rely on the services they deserve.

“The Conservative administration at Leicestershire County Council continue to do a remarkable job in delivering critical services for our residents, I am sure that they will continue to do so - but the time has come for Government to ensure the funding we receive in Leicestershire is commensurate with other councils.”