Wakefield Council receives additional £20m to support district through coronavirus

The government has confirmed how it will allocate the second £1.6bn package to help councils respond to coronavirus pressures across their services.
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On March 19, the government announced £1.6bn of additional funding for councils.

And a further £1.6bn in additional funding was announced on April 18. This extra £1.6bn took the total given to councils to more than £3.2bn.

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➡️ Leisure centre closures, loss of rents and free car parking costing Wakefield Council £1.3m a monthIn total, Wakefield has been allocated £20,485,680 to cover a population of 345,038, which amounts to an extra £59.37 per person.

The government has confirmed how it will allocate the second 1.6bn package to help councils respond to coronavirus pressures across their services.The government has confirmed how it will allocate the second 1.6bn package to help councils respond to coronavirus pressures across their services.
The government has confirmed how it will allocate the second 1.6bn package to help councils respond to coronavirus pressures across their services.

Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Councils are playing a central role in our national fight against coronavirus and the government continues to back them at this challenging time.

“That’s why I announced an extra £3.2 billion of support for councils to help them to continue their extraordinary efforts.

“I’m setting out how the latest £1.6 billion of this will be allocated to councils in the fairest way possible, recognising the latest and best assessment of the pressures they face.

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“We are backing local district councils and a clear majority will receive at least £1 million in additional funding.”

The BBC Data Unit compared the total allocation for each council to their populations and the amounts range from £43.38-£72.84 per person.

David Phillips from the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies said: “District councils are particularly reliant on the income they can receive from fees and charges for services, such as parking or leisure, and that makes them much more exposed to the effects of the lockdown.”

On average district councils received about 45p per resident in the first round but many received about £10 per person in the second.

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The total support across both tranches, works out at about £57 per person when district and county councils are combined, according to analysis.

Fire authorities and police and fire commissioners have been excluded from the analysis, but between them these 30 authorities have received £35m from the two rounds.

Most have so far been spending it covering adult social care, helping homeless people off the street, shielding vulnerable people and children’s services.

The new funding is expected to arrive in their bank accounts in May.