Local government minister John Healey has dismissed Worcester City Council's bid to secure a last minute review of its grant settlement. Worcester's Labour and Liberal Democrat group leaders Cllr Adrian Gregson and Cllr Susan Askin joined forces to call for a rethink of the finance settlement and warned that the city faces budget cuts of almost £2m next year and a council tax rise of 4.3%. In a joint letter they claimed: ‘The settlement is unsustainable; this settlement does not recognise the cost pressures and funding crisis facing districts such as Worcester City Council.' They demanded a meeting with Mr Healey to ‘explain our position, the financial deficit we face and, in particular, the acute pressures placed on historic urban centres like Worcester which we contend have not been recognised in the city's three-year settlement'. The minister said: ‘I regret I am not able to accept your invitation to meet – due to diary pressures' but insisted that the grant level is fair. He stressed: ‘There is no need for excessive council tax increases.'
