Covid-19 funding welcome, but won’t be enough, says Hertfordshire County councillor

The latest funding – allocated earlier this week – is the county council’s share of £1.6bn earmarked for councils by the government on April 18.

And it follows a previous allocation to the county council of £26million, in March – bringing the county council’s total Covid-19 funding to around £48million.

But there are already estimates that the ultimate cost to a council the size of Hertfordshire could be £77million.

And leading county councillor Ralph Sangster is already warning that that won’t be enough.

Cllr Sangster, executive member for finance, resources and property, said: “We welcome this further £21.8m from central government to primarily cover the extra costs of social care during the coronavirus crisis.

“This brings the funding total for the county council up to £47.9m, although our latest forecasts indicate this will not be sufficient to cover all our COVID-19 related costs over the months to come.”

The allocation to the county council – which has responsibility for social care and public health – made up the lion-share of the £33.5m allocated to council’s across Hertfordshire this week.

However there was a significant increase in the funding for the county’s 10 district and borough councils.

In the first tranche of Covid-19 funding the district and borough councils were allocated a collective total that was less than £500,000.

But this time they have been awarded a collective total of almost £12million – ranging between £1.5million for Dacorum and £871,563 for Stevenage.

And this increase in funding for the district and boroughs has been welcomed by Cllr Sangster.

“We are pleased to see that within Hertfordshire, district and borough councils have received additional money to cover the additional financial pressures they are experiencing,” he said.

Cllr Sangster says the county council will continue to monitor the financial impact of Covid-19 closely – in terms of both the extra costs and the ‘significant’ loss of income.

“We expect the next submission to central government to take place in early May, which will give a more accurate view to assess the cost against the grant confirmed,” he said.

According to the government the funding recognises the “crucial role” played by councils during the pandemic.

And the split of funding between county and district councils is said to reflect the financial pressures being felt by councils – including through loss of income from services such as car parks and leisure facilities.

Commenting on the funding Local Government Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick said it had been allocated in “the fairest way possible”.

He said: “Councils are playing a central role in our national fight against coronavirus and the government continues to back them at this challenging time.”

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