HALTON council tax payers have been subsidising Cheshire by a staggering £5 million a year, it was revealed this week.

Altogether, Widnes and Runcorn have lost an estimated £100 million since 1974.

Cash which should have been spent on county council services here went instead to the leafy suburbs.

Local Government Minister Hilary Armstrong this week confirmed that the anomaly only came to light as this year's financial allocation was redistributed to give Halton and Warrington their own unitary budgets.

The minister said: "What the budget split revealed was that council tax payers in Halton and Warrington had been subsidising council tax payers in other parts of Cheshire.

"Re-organisation has ended this cross-subsidy. Council tax payers in Cheshire will now have to pay the full costs of the services they use.

"Cheshire is going to have to meet the costs in full of running its own services rather than relying on a cross-subsidy from the council tax payers in Halton and Warrington."

Tax payers in the rest of Cheshire now face a record rise of £120 to make up the deficit - while Halton is expected to set the lowest council tax in the county.

Halton MP Derek Twigg said that the discrepancy was something Halton councillors had suspected for a long time.

Speaking in Parliament this week, Mr Twigg told the House of Commons: "I congratulate the Minister for Local Government and Housing on spotting the fact that, over many years, Halton and Warrington council tax payers have been subsidising those in the rest of Cheshire.

"We were being robbed. People in Halton have been saying that for some time.

"A report by the Department of the Environment in 1994 said that Halton was losing some £5 million. If the period since 1974 is taken into account, Halton has lost some £100 million. That is an immense sum to have been lost to one of the most deprived boroughs in the country, which has the fourth highest unemployment in the North West."

Mr Twigg welcomed this week's announcement that Halton is to receive a Local Government Finance Settlement of £107 million.

This includes an extra £2.4 million for education.

"I think it is excellent news. This is one of the best settlements in the country.

"It means that Halton can now plan ahead. It is a very exciting time for the borough. It is a great opportunity and gives Halton the chance to build an excellent unitary authority."

Chairman of Halton's Finance Sub-committee, Stan Hill, said: "The settlement is really good news, the best I can ever remember."

He said the borough had long suspected Halton was getting a raw deal.

"What the minister confirmed this week bears out what we have been saying for years.

"We could have had much better services and spent a lot more on schools.

"This is a positive start for unitary Halton. We will make sure every penny is spent more efficiently. Our councillors live or work in the area. We will be more accountable and more accessible."

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