Telford & Wrekin Council leader asks MPs to help with fair funding fight
Telford & Wrekin Council leader Shaun Davies has written to the borough’s two MPs to ask for their help in lobbying the Government to get a fairer funding deal.
Councillor Davies says that the Government’s own figures show that Telford & Wrekin Council has £12 million less per year than the average council to spend on frontline services.
He is asking both Telford MP Lucy Allan and Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard to come to the borough’s aid by working alongside the council to secure a fair funding deal for Telford and Wrekin.
“My call for fair funding for Telford and Wrekin is not a political one,” says Councillor Davies in his letter.
“Indeed, across the border in Shropshire, Councillor Malcolm Pate has been very clear about the negative impact of Government grant cuts and has been lobbying very publicly for a change of approach to local government funding.”
Councillor Davies also cites the example of Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski, whose lobbying has successfully helped Shropshire Council secure an extra £8.5 million in government funding.
“While I clearly don’t agree with Daniel’s views on everything, I commend him for his work in seeking to protect frontline public services in his constituency.
“There can be no doubt that the next waves of Government funding cuts will lead to big impacts on frontline services and, while we will always look to mitigate these as best we can, they will adversely affect the people who live here and our community overall”
Councillor Davies’ letter asks the borough’s two MPs to take a similar public position and approach to Mr Kawczynski and offers to meet with both MPs to brief them on the council’s funding situation.
