John assured £750k improvement cash to come to Rotherham
John Healey MP has been assured that £750,000 will now come to Rotherham to help make essential improvements following the Jay and Casey reports.
The cash has been withheld by the Government for several months.
After questioning the Secretary of State for the third time in the Commons yesterday (10 March), Eric Pickles told the Wentworth & Dearne MP: “I have released the money. The money will go to Rotherham today.”
Mr Healey had said: “The Secretary of State has been withholding from Rotherham council about £750,000 in troubled families and transformation award funding.
“Given the special circumstances and the challenges we face, will he now release that funding to Rotherham?”
The MP first called on Mr Pickles to release the money on 4 February, when the Secretary of State made a statement following the Casey report.
He also made a similar request during Sarah Champion MP’s debate on child sexual exploitation on 26 February.
The money is from the Troubled Families fund and the Transformation Challenge Award, which is set to help pay for a multi-agency safeguarding hub.