‘Recycling cash’ means Burnley loses out
Re your article, “Burnley is given £500,000 cash housing bonus”.
It is important to understand the New Homes Bonus is not new money; the pot it comes out of is the money that would have come to local councils anyway. Furthermore, the way it is then allocated, based on new house building, means Burnley loses out to the benefit of southern councils and a smaller number in the North, where house building is high.
This recycling of money is one of the reasons Burnley Council has endured some of the biggest cuts in resources in the country, over the last three years and is set to do so next year too. Hardly a bonus!
Steve Rumbelow
Chief Executive, Burnley Council