West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin welcomed confirmation that county councils will be given an additional £600 million to deal with rising budgets next year.

Harriett met with Worcestershire County Council leader Simon Geraghty and chief executive Paul Robinson to hear the extra financial pressures that the council is facing this year.

And Harriett subsequently met with Local Government Minister Simon Hoare to pass on local concerns about budget pressures and she has received confirmation yesterday that the Government will be allocating extra cash across the English councils to help out.

Harriett said:

“I had a really useful meeting with the leadership at Worcestershire County Council about the financial pressures arising from adult and children’s care needs and agreed to pass on their concerns to the local government Minister.

“There are clear pressures on the council with rising costs of children’s home to school transport and adult social care and a much larger demand for support for children with extra educational needs.

“Worcestershire is not alone in facing financial challenges and MPs from across England have been sharing their concerns.  I also signed a letter to the Secretary of State and raised these pressures with the Chancellor.

“This is definitely good news from the Government to reduce the gap and I look forward to seeing the full detail on the Local Government Settlement when it is published next month.”

Photo: Harriett Baldwin MP with Local Government Minister Simon Hoare.