Local Government Services: Rural Areas
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 28 November 2024 on Local Government Finance, HCWS265, whether her Department has carried out an equality impact assessment on repurposing the Rural Services Delivery Grant.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The Government took into consideration the Public Sector Equality Duty when making decisions regarding the Rural Services Delivery Grant.
This Government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities. Places with a significant rural population will on average receive around a 5% increase in their Core Spending Power next year, which is a real terms increase. No council will see a reduction – and new funding will be available to rural areas in 2025-26 through guaranteed EPR payments.
The Government will set out more detail on all measures set out at the provisional Settlement in December where we will consult on allocations for 2025-26, alongside launching a consultation on the objectives and principles of local government funding reform. The Settlement consultation will request views on the approach to changing how we deliver grant funding through the Settlement, and on equalities impacts. The Government welcomes views of rural councils in response to each of these consultations.
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