The Chancellor’s Spending Review appears to be a missed opportunity to help councils and their communities, says the Leader of Staffordshire County Council.
Around two-thirds of the county council’s £795 million budget for 2025/26 will be spent on adult social care and safeguarding children and young people, while Government funding for children with Special Educational Needs (SEND) in Staffordshire is one of the lowest in the country.
Ian Cooper, Leader of Staffordshire County Council, said: “We deliver services that make a difference to people’s lives and underfunding the council means short-changing our communities.
“Some of the biggest issues, such as the proper funding of adult social care and the ever-rising cost of SEND, require comprehensive national solutions, for which the detail was absent today, or promised down the road.
“Additional spending on the NHS is always welcome, but it’s undermined if it’s not complemented by investment in adult social care to support residents to stay in their homes and communities as long as they wish.”
While welcoming the promise of improved train services between Lichfield and Birmingham, and the £3 cap on bus fares, Ian Cooper also noted that there appeared to be no extra funding for spending on roads.
He said: “Staffordshire is a predominantly rural community and the majority of people still rely on their car and the need for good, safe roads between their homes, schools and places of work.
“We will look at the detail but the funding allocation for roads in Staffordshire appears out of tune with increased demand.”
