COUNCILS across the North-East have jointly highlighted the impact of the provisional local government grant settlement for authorities in the region.

The Association of North-East Councils (Anec) said local government in the region is keen to be part of the solution in addressing the challenging economic circumstances facing the country, but called on the Government to be fair.

Its chairman and vice-chairman, Paul Watson and Simon Henig, the leaders of Sunderland and Durham councils respectively, recently met local government minister Brandon Lewis.

They stressed that councils need to be adequately resourced to continue delivering services at a level the public expects.

Anec says it has highlighted a number of ways in which the formulae used for allocating resources have an unfair distributional impact in areas of higher deprivation – primarily in the North, while benefiting more affluent areas of in the south.

Based on Anec analysis, Surrey will receive more protection against grant loss than Durham, despite the North-East having more older people needing essential council services.

An Anec spokesman said: “Fairness is a key issue. While the Government has consistently made the point that North-East councils receive more money than other councils and therefore have to take their fair share of the cuts, Anec has provided analysis between councils in the North-East with those in the South, which shows that the needs of communities in the North East differ dramatically from other areas.”

Coun Watson added: “We hope ministers will give careful consideration to the issues and concerns Anec has highlighted.”

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: "Funding has been distributed in a fair way, ensuring the smallest reductions for the councils most reliant on government support and rewards councils that strive to improve their communities.”

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