THE leader of Worcestershire County Council has entered the saga over concern millions in Government funding could be axed – insisting it is “crucial” those fears do not become reality.

Councillor Adrian Hardman has voiced his worry over the New Homes Bonus by saying if it is scrapped, a replacement is unlikely to benefit Worcestershire.

As your Worcester News revealed last month, if Labour wins the next General Election it has announced the fund will be axed in favour of a “fairer” system.

The bonus fund rewards councils for pushing through new house building, benefitting more prosperous parts of the country, and is worth more than £12 million to Worcester alone by 2020.

Labour’s Hilary Benn, the shadow communities secretary, has said the fund does not help more depressed areas and wants an alternative system in place as early as this year.

Cllr Hardman said: “Clearly he is saying there would be changes to the way it is distributed so the more we can rely on our own sources of funding, the better.

“He was very clear when he made this announcement that the New Homes Bonus would be going, it will be put back into the basic revenue support grant and re-distributed.

“I am not against the word ‘fairness’ but I do think one could easily put a slant on that.

“The support for (councils in) metropolitan areas has, to some degree, been working against this area already and I know how important the New Homes Bonus is to the local government family in Worcestershire.

“It will be unsatisfactory to us all if this source of funding is taken away.”

He was asked to make his views clear on it during a full council meeting by Councillor Marc Bayliss, who is the Conservative deputy leader at Worcester City Council and a backbencher at County Hall.

Mr Benn has called the existing arrangement "regressive" and wrongly skewed for the most prosperous parts of the country.

It essentially means towns and cities lagging behind in terms of growth, and areas where interest from developers has been depressed, can expect extra funding at the expense of others if Labour wins the General Election.

In Worcester alone the New Homes Bonus has helped pay for major schemes like the riverside improvements and Angel Place's revamped market.