Government urged to consider high cost of rural services ahead of funding reformThe Government is changing the way funding is allocated to councilsView Image Northumberland County Council Headquarters at County Hall, Morpeth (Image: Newcastle Chronicle)The Government has been urged to bear the higher cost of delivering council services in rural areas ahead of a crunch decision on local authority funding. Consultation on the new fair funding review has recently closed, with news of council funding from Westminster expected before Christmas. ‌Leading Tory councillors at Northumberland County Council have already criticised the Government for the removal of the rural services delivery grant last year. The fair funding review is the manifestation of that. ‌“In the first year we lost our rural services delivery grant as money was directed to metropolitan areas.