BURNLEY Council’s spending power has dropped by almost £200 per person over this parliament, according to new figures.

The data, from the House of Commons Library and Newcastle City Council’s finance department, has revealed that since the 2010/11 financial year, the council has received £175.90 less per head in funding.

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The authority has the ninth highest levels of health deprivation and disability in the country.

It comes as Manchester City Council’s funding has been cut by £320.79 per person, Liverpool’s has decreased by £391.46 and Knowsley’s has dropped by £403.86.

In contrast, the analysis of the government figures shows that wealthier areas have seen significantly smaller falls in income.

Wokingham had a per-head cut in income of just £2.29 while Elmbridge Council in Surrey was just £8.14 worse off.

Both are among areas with the least social deprivation.

In the wake of the figures being published the Labour Party has claimed that the reductions were mainly due to government cuts in the revenue support grant.

Burnley councillor Marcus Johnstone said: “I’m appalled that the spending in Burnley has been cut by this much but I’m not surprised as towns like Burnley have been absolutely clobbered by this government.

“The county council has also been hit hard and its three year budget will mean that social care and public services are going to suffer.

“Everyone is going to feel the affects of the reduction in spending in Burnley.”

The Local Government Association, which represents all councils regardless of their political make-up, has called for changes to the formula for distributing the revenue support grant.

Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle said: “A close look needs to be taken at these figures to see if these are cuts in real terms. A lot of government money has been given to agencies who then give the money to the council or spend the money in the area themselves.“I want to know what has happened to that money and how much has been diverted from the council. Burnley has a lot of deprivation and any cuts to spending could have an affect on services if they are significant enough.”