Council bosses 'short-changed' by government fund

In May 2020, the BBC Shared Data Unit reported that emergency council funding during the crisis may not be sufficient to cover costs in some areas.

The second £1.6bn package was intended to support councils, which had been hit by a loss of income from parking, fines and taxes during the pandemic. This extra £1.6bn took the total given to councils to more than £3.2bn.

We compared the total allocation for each council to their populations and the amounts range from £43 to £73 per person.

The Shared Data Unit makes data journalism available to news organisations across the media industry, as part of a partnership between the BBC and the News Media Association. Stories generated by the partnership included:

• Cheshire Live: This is how much extra coronavirus funding Cheshire councils are getting 5 May 2020
• Berkshire Live: Berkshire handed £44m extra coronavirus funding - find out how much your council is getting 7 May 2020
• Biggleswade Today: Bedfordshire councils 'benefited more from emergency coronavirus cash than initial funding' 10 May 2020
• Lancashire Live: Local councils are on the frontline - but being left 'woefully short' 6 May 2020
• Nottingham Post: City leader warns government funding not sufficient to deal with coronavirus response 5 May 2020
• Portsmouth News: Hampshire awarded less cash per person than most areas in country to deal with Covid-19 5 May 2020
• Surrey Live: Surrey councils to receive nearly £60 million in extra coronavirus funding 6 May 2020
• Bedford Today: Bedfordshire councils 'benefited more from emergency coronavirus cash than initial funding' 10 May 2020
• Yorkshire Live: More than half of small businesses in Kirklees have been given emergency grant 29 April 2020
• InYourArea: Fewer than half of small businesses eligible for emergency government grants 1 May 2020

Get the data

The full data with comparisons by area can be found here

Interviews and quotes

• Nick Forbes, council leader, Newcastle City Council
• Councillor Marvin Rees, mayor, Bristol
• Spokesperson, Local Government Association (LGA)
• David Phillips, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)
• Councillor John Fuller, Chairman, District Councils Network

Visualisation

• Bar chart: Share of £3.2bn to support councils, by local authority - highest
• Bar chart: Share of £3.2bn to support councils, by local authority - lowest

Related repos

You can find all coronavirus-related stories by the BBC data units tagged 'coronavirus' here