Gloria leads Fair Deal call to Number 10

Ashfield MP Gloria De Piero has led a delegation of Nottinghamshire politicians to Downing Street to protest at funding cuts imposed by the Government on the authority.

Only five county councils in the whole country saw a bigger reduction in ‘spending power’ than Nottinghamshire County Council in the latest round of cuts to council funding, despite the county having some of the most deprived areas in the UK.

The Fair Deal for Nottinghamshire petition was signed by 3,222 local residents to ask the Government to think again about its approach of making the largest cuts in funding to areas like Nottinghamshire, where deprivation is highest.

Gloria was joined by Nottinghamshire County Council leader Coun Alan Rhodes in Downing Street on Monday.

“It’s the size of the cuts that Nottinghamshire County Council has faced compared to other more leafy and affluent areas which is deeply unfair,” Gloria told Chad.

“Local people understand that tough decisions have to be made but they want to see them being made in a fair way.”

Despite already cutting more than £100m from its budgets and shedding 3,000 jobs since 2010, the council’s main source of Government funding, the Revenue Support Grant, is being cut by a further 21 per cent over the next two years.

This is equivalent to a £63 cut per resident in Nottinghamshire, double that of more affluent areas in the south of England such as Buckinghamshire and Surrey.

Coun Rhodes added: “This is an issue that cannot be ignored and we are hoping to see some positive action to redress the balance of funding.”

Pictured are Gloria and Coun Rhodes outside 10 Downing Street on Monday.