Support for austerity-hit areas is essential in Fair Funding Review, says SIGOMA Chair

Posted on November 13, 2025

Speaking to The MJ, our Chair, Cllr Sir Stephen Houghton stresses the need for the upcoming Fair Funding Review to redress the funding imbalance, and support the deprived urban areas hit hard by austerity:

'These latest figures from Pixel confirm what we feared: the addition of housing costs as an indicator of deprivation is set to strip millions from deprived urban areas in 2026-27. That's a considerable setback for councils already grappling with tighter budgets and rising demand. 

'For too long, councils in the North and the Midlands bore the brunt of austerity, with real-terms cuts far deeper than those faced by more prosperous areas. SIGOMA councils alone have faced funding reductions 25% worse than the national average and four times worse than shire counties.'

As outlined in our recent press activity, we have called on the government to ensure that the negative implications of changes to the IMD are compensated for.

You can read the full article in The MJ here.