Local Government Finance
- Following the local government finance settlement statement made on 6 February 2023,1 am today announcing a further £3 million in grant funding for 2023-24 to support 15 local authorities severely impacted by the increase in levies from internal drainage boards. This increase is being driven by the unprecedented rise in energy costs that impact particularly energy-intensive services including internal drainage boards. As this has been an exceptional year for the rise in energy costs, this will be an exceptional one-off payment to help ease this additional financial burden on councils. The Government will not provide additional grant to local authorities for these levies on an ongoing basis. Councils and internal drainage boards should continue to take action to deliver efficient services and good value for money for the public.The 15 local authorities in scope are those whose internal drainage board levies account for over 3% of their average core spending power over five years. The allocations listed in the table below are based on 2023-24 internal drainage board levy increases.Allocations of £3 million grant funding for increasing Internal Drainage Board levies
Local authority
Allocation (£)
Bassetlaw
£181,977
Boston
£318,890
East Cambridgeshire
£104,160
East Lindsey
£927,373
Fenland
£177,281
Folkestone and Hythe
£32,043
King’s Lynn and West Norfolk
£205,451
Lincoln
£141,926
Newark and Sherwood
£239,690
North Kesteven
£143,975
North Norfolk
£35,265
South Holland
£298,739
South Kesteven
£87,761
Swale
£41,388
West Lindsey
£64,082
Total
£3,000,000
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