Council welcomes government funding increase

A council has welcomed a £13.3m increase in the amount of money it will get from the government over the next three years.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council's total funding, known as "core spending power", was originally £1.117bn between 2026 and 2029 under the provisional financial settlement for local authorities published in December.

Following the release of the final version of the settlement on Monday, the authority confirmed it would now get a total of £1.131bn in grants and taxes.

Council leader Jane Ashworth said it "better reflected the levels of deprivation we still have in this city and the specific challenges we face in areas like children's social care."

"We made a compelling case for a fairer settlement and we are pleased that the government has listened to our arguments."

She said the authority still faced "significant challenges" which she put down to a "decade of austerity cuts and national financial headwinds".

"To put this in perspective, we had £96.8m less to invest in 2024-25 than we had in 2010-11," she added.

"The improved final settlement will help us address those challenges."

Under the final settlement, the city council will receive £362.1m in 2026-27, £377.2m in 2027-28 and £391.7m in 2028-29.

According to the government, core spending power consists of "revenue grant funding made available through the settlement, locally retained business rates and council tax".

In January, the authority revealed plans to increase council tax by the maximum 4.99% along with a request for more government support as it continued to face financial pressures.

The council said it faced an initial savings requirement of £31.2m for 2026-27, caused by factors including the rising cost of social care.

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