Following the Fair Funding Review, Andrew Lewin MP has welcomed the £3.563m funding uplift for Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council for the 2026/2027 year.
Andrew has been meeting ministers and making the case for a stronger settlement for our community and raised the issue after the initial announcement in the House of Commons in December.
The final settlement was announced this week and the grant from national government to Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council for 2026/27 £11.292m, up from £7.729m 2025/26. This represents an increase of 46% in a single year.
The grant for 2027/28 and 2028/29 have also been announced and are £11.302m and £11.591m respectively. Add the three years together and the total uplift when compared to the previous formula is more than £10million.
Nationally, the government will have provided an average 15.5% increase in Core Spending Power for councils, worth over £11.4 billion more than in 2025/26. Welwyn Hatfield has benefitted more than the average council.
Minister Alison McGovern, Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution, said:
“We have given councils multi-year funding certainty for the first time in a decade; updated significantly out-of-date data to realign funding with need and deprivation and simplified the fragmented funding system through consolidating nearly £57 billion of grant funding.”
Andrew Lewin, Member of Parliament for Welwyn Hatfield, said:
“Conservative cuts had a devastating impact on local services and Labour’s new fair funding formula is making sure that Welwyn Hatfield Council receives the money it needs.
I have been championing our community in meetings with ministers and this £3.5 million annual uplift for the borough council should make a major difference to their ability to deliver crucial local services.
Ours is a community of contrasts, with affluent postcodes and places where need is great. The Labour government recognises this and Welwyn Hatfield is one of the biggest winners under the new funding formula.”
Notes:
Welwyn Hatfield Figures
- Total funding for the year 2025/2026 £7.729m
- Total funding for the year 2026/2027 £11.292m (Increase of £3.563m)
National Figures – Data Post Uplift
With this new funding and other available funding in the Settlement, the Government are setting out:
- A £440 million additional uplift to the Recovery Grant bringing the total to £2.6 billion through the multi-year Settlement;
- £272 million in additional allocations within the Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant, bringing the total through the grant to £2.7 billion;
- An additional £39.6 million for Mayors to build their capacity, bringing the total to £138.6 million through the multi-year Settlement; and
- An additional £15 million over the multi-year Settlement to support standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities.
- https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/final-local-government-finance-settlement-england-2026-2027-to-2028-2029
