An announcement by Government has provided long awaited relief and more certainty for Peterborough City Council’s finances for the years ahead and a significant uplift in its budget to spend on residents.
The amount of money the city council has to spend on services will increase by £76m by 2028/29, in comparison to 2025/26 – an increase of 31 per cent. This is often referred to Core Spending Power, and includes the funding received from the Government and income it collects from Council Tax and Business Rates.
It comes after the Government announced its Fairer Funding settlement, which alters the funding formulas received by all councils across England and Wales and aims to direct more support to areas with higher levels of deprivation and demand for services,
Councillor Shabina Qayyum, leader of Peterborough City Council, said: “This is a hugely important moment for Peterborough and the most exciting Christmas present we could ever have hoped for.
“I would like to thank our MPs for their support in banging the drum loudly for fairer funding for local authorities. For years we have called for further funding to help us pay for the increased demand on our services compared to other areas – we have finally been listened to.”
“Our council has worked incredibly hard to stabilise finances after years of cuts, but fair funding has always been essential to securing our city’s future. This settlement gives us the certainty we need to plan ahead – with our funding increasing over the next three years – helping us to protect vital services, improve our financial health and invest in the things that matter most to residents.
“This is the first multi-year settlement in a decade, which aims to simplify dozens of funding streams, and target resources towards areas with the greatest need. It means councils like ours will have the stability we need to plan, invest and deliver for residents.
“This announcement follows the huge amounts of additional funding committed to Peterborough by the Government in the past year, including the £40 million Pride in Place funding, £1.3 million to continue running our successful Family Hubs programme and most recently £20 million committed for the delivery of a new city centre swimming pool by the UK Government's Growth Mission Fund.”