IS it fair that City of York Council gets £247 less per person than the average local authority in funds allocated from the Government?

Clearly, from his comments praising the Government, Hugh Bayley thinks so (June 3).

Instead of joining with the council to get a better deal for all York residents, which would have prevented the need to put up parking charges so much, Labour MP Mr Bayley has rushed into the debate on council spending to score political points, without checking the facts on how unfairly York is treated.

Four years ago when the then Labour-controlled council was implementing a 7.5 per cent increase in council tax and some £4 million in service cuts, Mr Bayley was quoted in your paper as saying "the funding rules developed under the Tories are hopelessly biased against new unitary authorities like York". I agreed with him because it is patently true.

Fast forward to 2004 and Mr Bayley is claiming credit for a big increase in Government grant to the city. So is York getting a better deal from Labour?

The figures prove otherwise. In 2000 York received grants, per person, of just under 73 per cent of the average for all councils. This year the figure had fallen to 69.5 per cent of the average.

Where we were getting £181 per person less than the average council in 2000, this has risen to £247 in 2004. This is unfair, and has contributed to the difficult decisions that we have had to make as a council.

So, Hugh, what exactly have you and your Government achieved for York over the past four years?

Coun Andrew Waller,

Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for York,

Askham Lane,

Acomb,

York.

Updated: 10:39 Wednesday, June 09, 2004