Rural Fair Funding Campaign

The Local Government Finance Settlement sets out how the Government will allocate resources to Local Authorities.

The formula is very complex and takes into account varying factors and weightings to result in the local authority allocation.

What funding do Councils get currently?

The Final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-2026 was published on 3rd February 2025.

It is available at this link.

The final settlement followed a consultation to which the Rural Services Network responded, you can read our consultation response at this link.

Why is this important?

As a result of the way that rural councils have been funded by successive governments, they have received less funding compared to urban areas for decades.  

This can impact the councils ability to deliver services to their residents, particularly discretionary services such as public toilets, public transport and parks and leisure facilities.

We appreciate that we are in difficult financial times however in these times it is even more important that funds are allocated fairly.

What is the Government doing about it?

The Government wants to change the formula to ensure that it is fit for purpose.

It launched a consultation on the Objectives and Principles for a new funding system in December 2024. 

You can see more about this consultation at this link.

Fair Funding 2.0

The Government launched the Fair Funding Review 2.0 on 23rd June 2025.

The consultation closes on August 15th 2025.  The RSN is currently putting together a response which will be shared with local authorities in Sparse membership of the RSN.

You can read more about the consultation at this link.

RSN Campaign

Delivering for All - A Roadmap for rural prosperity

Every person, in every place, deserves the chance to thrive — including those living in rural, coastal and small-town communities.

Adding to the challenge of underfunding, council services cost more to deliver in rural areas, where residents are spread across wide areas but still depend on vital services. Communities in these areas deserve their fair share of funding to ensure they remain functional and sustainable—especially in the face of the cost of living crisis, which hits them hardest.

What does the RSN want Government to do?

• Create Public funding formulae which ensure the unique service needs, delivery constraints and the
  whole range of extra costs of delivering services in rural areas (and not just travel costs) are properly
  reflected.
• Ensure funding for the Social Care Reform proposals uses a formula which recognises the whole range of
  costs faced by rural councils and care providers. This includes financially addressing the current backlog
  in assessments etc.
• The Government should monitor the impact of funding formulae on all areas across the country,
  including those in rural and urban areas to ensure that residents in our market towns and villages are
  not paying more for their services compared to those in more urban areas.
• Protect rural council taxpayers by fairly funding public services to ensure they are not asked to pay more
  to fund local services than their urban counterparts.
• Public sector bodies should have the resources they require to meet the needs of their community and
  deliver services effectively. Residents should not be disadvantaged due to living in a more rural
  community.