Sunderland Labour Group has welcomed increased funding from Government that will enable it to better deliver against community priorities.
Sunderland City Council has seen an uplift in the funding it receives from UK Government, which the city’s ruling Labour Group has said will be channelled into the things that matter most to residents. A 9.69% uplift in core spending powers – with £5.8m of additional Government funding and a 2.5% increase in core council tax – will allow the Group to channel vital resource into frontline services, helping address pressures on the system after 14 years of underfunding from the previous Government.
The Group’s cabinet met today [Thursday, February 12] to agree how it will allocate the uplift in grant funding and has identified a number of city priorities that will receive additional resource amounting to £4.8m.
An additional £1m will be directed into tackling potholes in the city’s roads, while an extra £1m of funding will bolster the city council’s targeted community safety hubs, which have delivered significant reductions in anti-social behaviour in the areas they serve. £1.2m will be channelled through the city’s voluntary and community sector, underpinning a new Stronger Communities Framework that seeks to build resilience and connect residents to opportunities across Sunderland. This will be added to a £1.5m investment in youth services recently announced by the city council and a full upgrade and expansion of the city’s CCTV network, which was announced last month. An extra £100,000 will also go into city-wide events next year, to ensure Sunderland continues to attract visitors and offer a strong lifestyle experience for those who live in the city.
Detailed proposals will be worked up for the additional funding, but the Sunderland Labour Group leader, Councillor Michael Mordey, said the funding was a welcome boost that would be used to maximum benefit.
He said: “We’re pleased with this funding uplift from the Labour Government. Although there remain significant pressures on the council’s finances – it is great to have a government now working with the sector and directing resources to the areas that need it the most. Sunderland was underfunded for over a decade by the previous government and we are not going to be able to right all the wrongs of those decisions quickly and we still are faced with difficult decisions to make around council tax but I am confident these proposals strike the right balance between keeping council tax as low as possible whilst also investing in the priorities that the people of Sunderland tell us are important to them.
“I can only imagine the situation we would be facing if we hadn’t seen a Labour Government come to power in 2024 – it would have been an absolutely dire position, as we face up to the true cost and devastating consequences of years of austerity – from demands on adult social care to pressure on children’s services. We were given £9m from Government as a recovery grant last year, which has been maintained this year. Along with this further increase, we are better able to meet the challenges, though – undoubtedly – things are tough, as we grapple with the untold consequences of decisions made by successive opposition Governments.”
He added: “As a Labour Group, we listen to residents and we respond. We ensure that our priorities as a group represent the will of the communities we serve, and we work hand in glove with this Labour Government to ensure that Sunderland gets the best deal from them. This additional funding will ensure we are able to deliver on the needs of Sunderland people, and that’s to deliver safer communities, well-maintained infrastructure and to connect our residents to opportunities.”