After Labour’s outrageous decision to pump hundreds of thousands of pounds into their target areas at the expense of Westhoughton, Bromley Cross and other areas that pay much of the Council Tax pot was challenged by the Conservatives, Labour tried underhanded tricks through the Chairman of a scrutiny committee to get their funding formula passed; as Cllr Stuart Haslam explains in this video:
Now they’ve backed down, claiming their formula was “flawed” and will be looked at again. I have made a Freedom of Information Request to see that formula (and any other formulae used over the last decade) because Labour have steadfastly refused to show it to anyone when they have asked for it.
Does this formula even exist?
I’m not the only one who was concerned about Labour’s actions, either. Several Councillors spoke about what happened at the Scrutiny committee; as well as our concerns about the validity of the deprivation formula that Labour has now admitted is flawed. Will they stop using it, or just edit it? We will have to wait and see.