Watford's highest elected officials argued for a greater share of Government funding during a meeting in London today.
Richard Harrington MP and Mayor Dorothy Thornhill met Bob Neil MP, a minister from the Department for Communities and Local Government, to state their case for the reconsideration of Watford Borough Council's revenue support grant.
Since December's announcement on the revised grants allocated to local authorities, Mayor Thornhill, Mr Harrington and Bernard Clark, the finance officer at the council, have been working towards securing a reassessment on its new budget.
The Government’s revised grants left Watford significantly worse off than had been expected, following changes to the floor protection plan and amendments to concessionary fares.
The main arguments for reviewing the settlement centered around the significant regional role that Watford plays and the unfair way that the concessionary fare system is currently organised.
In a joint statement, Mayor Thornhill and Mr Harrington said: “We understand that the Government needs to make cuts to ensure an economic recovery. However, we feel that this particular settlement has been particularly harsh on the council.
“Regardless of our politics our main priority is ensuring that the people of Watford are fairly represented within Government which is why we have met the Minister to make our case today.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel