Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

Why penailse us compared to urban areas?

More than 30 MPs have demanded a fairer share of government funding for rural local authorities.

It was unfair that rural communities received less funding than their urban counterparts, said MPs debating the issue of local government finance on Monday (11 February).

Neil Parish (Con, Tiverton and Honiton) said the settlement would reduce central government support to councils while doing nothing to address long-standing inequality in funding between rural and urban councils.

Mr. Parish said: 'We are not here to rob urban authorities of their money, but we are saying clearly to the government that there are inequalities and they must be put right.'

Overall, rural residents pay council tax which is £75 higher per head of population, yet receive substantially less support for services, according to figures from the Rural Services Network.

The Fair Share campaign is pressing to stop the inadvertent worsening of the situation this year and also campaigning for a reduction in the rural penalty from 50% to 40% by 2020.

Helen Goodman (Lab, Bishop Auckland) said: 'I want to make it absolutely clear that this is not just an issue for Government Members; Labour Members are also concerned about it.'

Her view was echoed by Tony Cunningham (Lab, Workington). He said: 'This is not a party political issue. Cumbria county council is controlled by Labour and Conservative councillors, and they think that the situation is unfair.'

The government has already announced a one-off £8.5m grant. But many rural MPs argue that it is too little, especially because it is for one year only.