Back in February, during a House of Commons debate on Local Government Settlements, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Greg Clark, committed to visiting the Isle of Wight to meet with local leaders.
Over two months later, a date for the visit has still not been confirmed.
Why the need for a meeting?
The assurance of a meeting had been made after it was revealed the Isle of Wight council’s request for extra funding was rejected.
The extra money was needed in order to meet cost of vital services in 2016-17 and prevent job losses.
Why was funding request rejected?
Leader of the Isle of Wight council, Jonathan Bacon, explained at the time that the offer of assistance was great, but didn’t help the council set their budget for 2016-17, resulting in cuts having to be made.
The request had been rejected because the Island did not meet the criteria based on the current funding formulas.
The minister committed to finding ways to help the Council stay afloat until the new funding formula is in place – hopefully by the time they set the 2017-18 budget.
Where’s the minister?
Various dates have been floating around over the past few weeks as to when the Minister might visit the Island, with the end of April being the most talked about date.
However, when OnTheWight asked the council this week whether a date had been confirmed, we were told it had not.
It was previously thought that Greg Clark would be making a Solent devolution announcement prior to the May elections.
That looks unlikely now.
Bacon: Devolution not “an instant cure”
Cllr Jonathan Bacon, told OnTheWight,
“While no date has been finalised yet, I look forward to meeting with Greg Clark, in the near future in order to discuss the Island’s critical financial position and to demonstrate to him the impact that the government’s austerity measures have had, and continue to have, on our community.
“There has always been the possibility that a devolution deal that includes the Isle of Wight could provide some financial assurance to the Island. However it is unclear what the current position is and in any event I do not think we could ever say that we could rely on it as an instant cure for our financial shortfall.
“Therefore, we must continue and indeed put as much effort as possible into the Fight for the Wight campaign, to ensure that the government understands that the Island is a special and unique case, with extreme challenges, that needs considerable further financial support.”
Article edit
Comment from Cllr Bacon added (8.53am 22/4)
Image: policyexchange under CC BY 2.0
