County wants more coronavirus cash as £8.8m grant falls short of £33m needed

THE leader of Hampshire County Council is calling on the government to provide civic chiefs with more money to deal with the Covid-19 crisis.

Cllr Keith Mans said that while the recently announced £8.8m from central government is welcome news, it “falls short of offering a sustainable solution to the major financial crisis”, writes Maria Zaccaro of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The government said it has provided unprecedented support to councils during the pandemic. New Forest District Council recently received £204,463 and BCP Council nearly £4m.

But HCC said it will need at least an extra £33m to be viable in the future, according to Cllr Mans. Last month it was revealed that the authority is facing a £210m shortfall by 2023 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The government last week confirmed that the authority will receive £8.8m to provide vital services this winter. But Cllr Mans said this is not what civic chiefs expected.

He said: “Government’s funding calculation has impacted county councils extremely badly this time round. We expected to receive around £15.2m in this tranche of funding, but will now only be awarded just over half that amount.”

Cllr Mans said the authority can manage the £83m cost of Covid-19 this year, thanks to its “strong financial position before the pandemic”.

But he added: “However, in the medium term, the prognosis is not good.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said: “Hampshire County Council has received £70m in non-ringfenced emergency funding across all four tranches.

“Additionally, their core spending power increased by over £55m in 2020/21 even before emergency funding was announced.

“We recognise that there will be individual councils with unique circumstances, and we encourage them to approach MHCLG to discuss their future financial position. We will continue to work closely with Hampshire County Council as they support their community through the pandemic.”