CASH-STRAPPED Dorset County Council is squaring up to the government in its bid for a fairer funding deal for taxpayers.

A four-strong all-party delegation is travelling to London on Wednesday for a meeting with Minister Christopher Leslie, when it will insist that Dorset deserves more money.

Leader Tim Palmer said: "We've asked for this urgent meeting because a change in the government formula for allocating money to local authorities has set Dorset at the very bottom of the funding league table for the coming year.

"In terms of actual government money this means that Dorset County Council gets £463 per head compared to a county average of £556 per head.

"If Dorset received the average we would have an extra £37 million of government money - putting us in a much better position for next year.

"This year's settlement means that the council is faced with either a significant increase in council tax or a reduction of plans for expenditure on services - or a combination of both."

He added: "It looks as though the government is expecting Dorset's council taxpayers to meet the shortfall in funding.

"We think that's unfair and hope that if presented with an objective analysis of the apparently perverse way in which Dorset has been treated by the formula, the Minister will be able to find a solution which will offer more government support."

At the same time as the Ministerial meeting the council's Cabinet will discuss the budget strategy for the next year based on the current funding deal. Peter Lewis, head of resources, said that before the funding announcement last month the council had been drawing up a strategy based on information known at the time which would have resulted in little service delivery improvements but still meant a council tax rise of 8.5 per cent.

He said: "Now Dorset's unexpectedly bad financial settlement means that using similar ingredients the council tax would rise in excess of 20 per cent."

Mr Lewis said key factors included Dorset being penalised for having high house prices - the government believing that the higher the prices the more money can be levied locally, despite Dorset having lower than average incomes - and strict rules on how specific grants can be spent.