'LORELY BURT CHALLENGES PRIME MINSISTER TO GET A GRIP ON LOCAL AUTHORITY FUNDING'

1.42.05pm GMT Wed 7th Feb 2007

Solihull MP Lorely Burt has taken her campaign for a fairer deal for Solihull directly to Prime Minister Tony Blair. Mrs Burt challenged Tony Blair during Prime Minister's Questions to "get a grip" on the unfair allocation of local authority funding "as part of his legacy."

She explained that for each 42p of Local Authority grant that an individual in Solihull receives, in next door Birmingham a person would receive £1, despite the fact that Solihull has four of the poorest wards in the country.

She challenged the Prime Minister:

"does he think that a lonely pensioner or a sick child is less deserving in a leafy suburb than in a former Labour heartland."

Tony Blair replied that despite "pockets of deprivation" they aimed for a balanced outcome for local government formula funding.