February 17, 2016 4.54 pm This story is over 97 months old

Senior Labour politician challenges Lincoln MP on council funding settlement

Questions to answer: A Labour politician asked the Lincoln MP to explain the government’s decision not to give the city council extra funding.

A senior Labour politician has asked Lincoln MP Karl McCartney to explain the government’s decision not to award the city council any additional funding.

Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Jon Trickett visited Lincoln on a fact-finding mission to learn more about the city’s historic decision to ban the use of legal highs in public in 2015.

However, the Labour MP for Hemsworth in West Yorkshire also criticised the local government funding settlement, claiming that Conservative-dominated councils such as Lincolnshire received a far better deal than Labour ones, such as Lincoln.

He added that McCartney had questions to answer for supporting the settlement.

Lincolnshire County Council was handed an extra £7.7 million in central government grants on February 9 to ease significant cuts to public services over the next two years.

City of Lincoln Council, which claims it is facing a 99% cut in its government grant in the next four years, was given nothing in the same settlement.

Trickett, who was one of the 36 MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour leadership election, said: “Lincoln is a great place but it needs additional funds. I’m very worried about elderly people and also child protection issues that are under threat.

“Now why did the Lincoln MP allow the Tory government as a Conservative to do that to a town like Lincoln? That’s a question I think he should answer.”