It was a busy week in Westminster for me, and one of the highlights was the announcement of additional measures for local authorities worth £600 million. This includes £500 million of new funding for councils with responsibility for adults and children’s social care, distributed through the Social Care Grant. Taking into account this new funding, local government in England will see an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £4.5 billion next year, or 7.5% in cash terms, an above-inflation increase, rising from £60.2 billion in 2023-24 to up to £64.7 billion in 2024-25.
I have regular in-person meetings with Ministers and make direct representations on behalf of North Cornwall, including recent discussions about increasing local authority funding and care costs, so I am pleased to see the Minister took my comments on board. The Rural Services Delivery Grant, which is a specific programme designed to support areas like Cornwall will benefit from a £15 million increase to the grant in 2024-25. This is an increase of over 15% making available a total of £110 million next year. This is the largest cash increase in the Rural Services Delivery Grant in five years.
Cornwall Council has also faced cost pressures because of high inflation over the past two years and can expect a guaranteed share of this additional funding. The government has also announced an additional £500 million of funding for local government to deliver social care. This is further to the £1 billion in additional funding announced at Autumn Statement 2022 and July 2023. It will enable local councils to continue to provide crucial social care services for their local communities, particularly for children. I am proud to be delivering record levels of funding for North Cornwall and it is something that my constituents want to see continue. Further information on these grants will be coming soon and I will keep you all updated.
Just this last week I attended an event in Parliament with Sport England to talk about how important grassroots funding is to our numerous sports clubs here in North Cornwall. Whether is cricket, football, rugby, or Cornish wrestling, we have a proud record of local competitive sports, and I am pleased the Sports Minister has just delivered a new package worth over £70,000 to clubs here in North Cornwall. This funding will provide new goalposts for Lanivet Parish Sports and Recreational Trust; Kelliwik Youth FC; Week St Mary FC; Bodmin Youth FC; and Southgate Football Club. Pitch maintenance and upgrades for Tintagel FC; Padstow United; and Lanivet Parish Sports and Recreational Trust; and new fencing at St Teath Youth FC.
If you require my help with anything, including benefits, the NHS, or cost of living support then please get in touch. I also hold regular advice surgeries across North Cornwall, over the phone and online. Updates on my work can be found at www.scottmann.org.uk and you can contact me via [email protected] or 01208 74337.
