Labour councils just got a huge funding boost and Tory and Lib Dem councils are paying for it

Andy Burnham's government is cutting money from Conservative and Lib Dem councils. And it's giving Labour councils a lot more. That's what a Telegraph analysis of House of Commons data has just found. This covers money the government controls, right through to 2028.

So break down the numbers. Conservative and Lib Dem councils are losing close to half a billion pounds between them. Labour councils are gaining well over a billion.

Conservative-led councils face a 6.5% cut. That's £4.4 billion down to £4.1 billion. Lib Dem councils lose 5.2%. That's £3.9 billion down to £3.7 billion. Labour councils gain 14.6%. That's £10.8 billion up to £12.3 billion.

And here's the pattern underneath those numbers. About three in four Conservative and Lib Dem councils face cash cuts. For Labour councils, it's only one in three.

So why is this happening?

The money comes from something called the Fair Funding Review 2.0. It's the first full look at what English councils actually need since 2013. It runs through the first multi-year funding settlement in a decade, covering 2026 to 2029. The final settlement was published eight months ago, and the Commons approved it two days after that.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says this means nine in ten councils are now funded in line with need. Before, it says, that figure was about one in three. The government told the Commons the most deprived places will get 45% more funding per head than the least deprived, by 2028. And it says a very large sum is available for council finances this year.

But look at the party pattern in the result. It's stark.

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, says quote "Labour's spiteful class war continues - they just can't help themselves". A Conservative Party source says councils that balance their books are being punished, because the politics of envy runs deep within Labour.

Now here's the part worth knowing. Labour-run Birmingham declared effective bankruptcy three years ago. Under this new formula, it gets the single biggest increase of any council in England. That's according to the Telegraph's analysis.