The 2019/20 financial settlement plan passed through Parliament on Monday.


The vote for the Financial Settlement Plan showed the Government is committed to helping local authorities plan for the long-term.


The plan means an increase of £1.3 billion, taking council funding to over £46 billion in this financial year, including a £650 million increase for social care, with £450 million ringfenced for adult and children’s social care. It also included the largest increase in police funding since 2010.


James Brokenshire MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government stated: “This year’s settlement paves the way for a fairer, more self-sufficient and resilient future for local government. That is why local authorities will have more control over the money they raise and a real term increase in their core spending power.”


Damien Moore MP welcomed the additional funding for Southport, criticising Labour for objecting to it:


‘On Monday, I voted for an increase in police and local government funding for Southport whilst Labour voted against it and proposed no alternative.’


‘I believe residents in Southport already contribute a significant amount in taxes. This additional funding allocation is that money being reinvested directly into our local services in Southport.


‘Locally, Labour’s Police Commissioner for Merseyside has announced plans to impose an additional police precept on Southport residents, but won’t tell us whether that money will be spent in our town.


‘It’s a shameful ploy by the Labour Party who continue to oppose money being spent directly on our town but support additional taxes on Southport residents if the money is to be spent elsewhere.


In the 2019-20 Local Government Finance Settlement, the Communities Secretary confirmed core spending power will increase to £46.4 billion in 2019-20 which represents a cash increase of 2.8%.



For more information please contact Damien Moore at damien.moore.mp@parliament.uk or 4 Post Office Avenue, Southport, PR9 0US. Tel 01704 500577.

I've no interest in Labours response or lack of it. What I am interested in is our MPs twisting of facts.

Since 2010 When his party has been in power Merseyside Police have lost over 2,000 police officers and closed down police stations. Inevitably crime has risen, a fact acknowledged by Sajid Javid hence the increase in police funding. But of that 920m half of it has to be met by local authorities. In addition
to that there is the issue of police pensions costing more than 412m nationally. The treasury is giving a one of payment of 252m but the rest has to be paid for by local authorities and local taxpayers so that's an additional 5m for Merseyside this year and 7m next year. All to be paid for by me and you.

It's this sleight of hand that I find duplicitous. Cutting money centrally and off loading onto council tax payers. The ring fenced social care monies he quotes is money that used to be paid centrally. A lot still is, however the cuts have created a crisis in adult social care so that has be plugged by a precept. So once again they cut we pay.

So Mr Moore may query why a precept is asked for and where it's being spent but if he did a bit of homework it's really not that difficult to find out.

Originally Posted by toffee man

I've no interest in Labours response or lack of it. What I am interested in is our MPs twisting of facts.

Since 2010 When his party has been in power Merseyside Police have lost over 2,000 police officers and closed down police stations. Inevitably crime has risen, a fact acknowledged by Sajid Javid hence the increase in police funding. But of that 920m half of it has to be met by local authorities. In addition
to that there is the issue of police pensions costing more than 412m nationally. The treasury is giving a one of payment of 252m but the rest has to be paid for by local authorities and local taxpayers so that's an additional 5m for Merseyside this year and 7m next year. All to be paid for by me and you.

It's this sleight of hand that I find duplicitous. Cutting money centrally and off loading onto council tax payers. The ring fenced social care monies he quotes is money that used to be paid centrally. A lot still is, however the cuts have created a crisis in adult social care so that has be plugged by a precept. So once again they cut we pay.

So Mr Moore may query why a precept is asked for and where it's being spent but if he did a bit of homework it's really not that difficult to find out.

The way they have piled more and more on Local Authorities whilst screwing them into the ground with "Austerity" is criminal and knowing full well that the Councils most likely to fail are the poorer areas with Labour Councils so they can spew their duplicitous disingenuous SH*TE speaks volumes. Unless you are a £multimillionaire there is absolutely NOTHING to gain voting Tory only a sense of some sort of superiority. Personally if a Tory burst into flames in front of me I wouldn't PI*S on it. I'm surprised they haven't thought of reintroducing smallpox cholera and scurvy to cull the non elite plebs. VILE HORRIBLE CREATURES.

Central Government expenditure cannot be distributed by individual Members of Parliament. It has to be voted on in Parliament. It is not sleight of hand that should be considered but broken promises and attention to that which the public are NOT being told. The Metro Mayor promised that there would be no increases in Council Tax while he was in office. There has been a huge new Merseyside Police Headquarters built - yet this authority now require additional funding - where is that additional funding to be spent? The local council repeatedly state that they are short of funds - yet the DHSS building on Eastbank Street, is at present undergoing even MORE maintenance work, at what cost is anyone's guess. The amount of times this building has had to have work done on it - it should have been pulled down years ago. The amount of funding to Sefton from central government is the same for all areas in the UK, how is it that some councils can observe good housekeeping when Sefton cannot? Perhaps it would be wise to ask for a breakdown of priority spending in Sefton first?

Originally Posted by said

Central Government expenditure cannot be distributed by individual Members of Parliament. It has to be voted on in Parliament. It is not sleight of hand that should be considered but broken promises and attention to that which the public are NOT being told. The Metro Mayor promised that there would be no increases in Council Tax while he was in office. There has been a huge new Merseyside Police Headquarters built - yet this authority now require additional funding - where is that additional funding to be spent? The local council repeatedly state that they are short of funds - yet the DHSS building on Eastbank Street, is at present undergoing even MORE maintenance work, at what cost is anyone's guess. The amount of times this building has had to have work done on it - it should have been pulled down years ago. The amount of funding to Sefton from central government is the same for all areas in the UK, how is it that some councils can observe good housekeeping when Sefton cannot? Perhaps it would be wise to ask for a breakdown of priority spending in Sefton first?

What on earth has the DSS building got to do with Sefton Council?

The amount of funding for all areas in the UK is not the same.

Where has this massive new Headquarters the police have had built?

Originally Posted by said

The local council repeatedly state that they are short of funds - yet the DHSS building on Eastbank Street, is at present undergoing even MORE maintenance work, at what cost is anyone's guess. The amount of times this building has had to have work done on it - it should have been pulled down years ago

it's a civil service building so it is central government that is spending money on it. I pointed this out to you the last time you claimed it belonged to Sefton

The amount of funding to Sefton from central government is the same for all areas in the UK,

no it isn't

Originally Posted by said

Central Government expenditure cannot be distributed by individual Members of Parliament. It has to be voted on in Parliament. It is not sleight of hand that should be considered but broken promises and attention to that which the public are NOT being told. The Metro Mayor promised that there would be no increases in Council Tax while he was in office. There has been a huge new Merseyside Police Headquarters built - yet this authority now require additional funding - where is that additional funding to be spent? The local council repeatedly state that they are short of funds - yet the DHSS building on Eastbank Street, is at present undergoing even MORE maintenance work, at what cost is anyone's guess. The amount of times this building has had to have work done on it - it should have been pulled down years ago. The amount of funding to Sefton from central government is the same for all areas in the UK, how is it that some councils can observe good housekeeping when Sefton cannot? Perhaps it would be wise to ask for a breakdown of priority spending in Sefton first?

I am not in favour of more and more bureaucracy, however this is all part and parcel of the Tory government's alleged devolving power to the regions, what is actually happening is that local authority and organisations get the responsibility, the bills and the blame when things go wrong, while still keeping a grip on the purse strings.

You appear to confuse local authority spending with government department spending, not the same thing at all.

Your idea that all local authorities receive the same funding from government is about as wrong as can be.

Just as a for instance one authority very high on the deprivation scale is Liverpool, now Liverpool rates 43.45 on the deprived scale yet has had to bear cuts of 27.1%, the district council of Hart rates 4.47 on the deprived scale yet has only had cuts of 1.5%.

14 councils have actually had a rise in government funding, surprise, surprise 13 of them have Tory MPs, what a coincidence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by said

Central Government expenditure cannot be distributed by individual Members of Parliament. It has to be voted on in Parliament.

Thank you for imparting that gem of wisdom. I'm sure we all thought that MPs are each allotted a piece of the public purse to distribute at will.

There has been a huge new Merseyside Police Headquarters built

Built... have you seen it?

Originally Posted by said

Central Government expenditure cannot be distributed by individual Members of Parliament.... in Sefton first?

Marvin the rightwing jester from Chester making it up as he goes along, as per usual, -firstly, re. the Metro Mayor - sorry but the roleholder does not have the power to say there will be no rise in council tax in Sefton or any of the other of the combined authorities - also, as pointed out above DHSS nowt to do with Sefton - yet more deliberate misinformation from the out of town agitator it would seem.