Dispute over Oxfordshire funding announcement

A council has disputed an Oxfordshire MP's claim that the county will get a "£141.6m cash injection for essential services".

Oxfordshire County Council said that funding would actually be diverted away to "parts of the country with higher levels of deprivation".

Labour MP for Banbury, Sean Woodcock, said that the government had announced a "21% increase in the council's spending power".

But the authority said that figure assumed a 4.99% in council tax for the next three years and there was an overall cut in funding from central government.

The government said it had made almost £78bn available for essential services next year, as part of the "first multi-year funding settlement in over a decade".

They said the longer-term financial agreement would give councils "certainty so they can plan ahead rather than firefight year to year."

Mr Woodcock said that in Oxfordshire, the settlement would mean "more money for our high streets, our libraries, our roads and for cleaner streets" after "14 years of Tory austerity".

But Oxfordshire County Council has painted a bleaker financial picture for the authority.

A spokesperson said: "Essentially, funding is being diverted away from areas like Oxfordshire to parts of the country with higher levels of deprivation.

"As such the picture is likely to be challenging, especially in later years.

"The government has announced that Oxfordshire's income will increase by £141m, but it has also assumed that there will be a council tax increase of 4.99%... in each of the next three years paid by Oxfordshire residents which will raise £154m.

"The difference is a cut in funding from central government."

In response, Mr Woodcock said the the government had increased funding for councils "across the board".

'[But] given the years of historic underfunding, we can't fix everything all at once, and do expect councils to play their part too," he added.

"The council tax increases are estimated at the 4.99% allowed over each of the next three years.

"This is what Oxfordshire County Council have already been doing, increasing council tax by the maximum amount, over previous years."

Oxfordshire County Council is due to agree the budget for the coming financial year in February.

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