The County Councils Network (CCN) has hit out at Government plans to make upper tier authorities in shire areas yield their full share of New Homes Bonus (NHB) money to fund controversial pooling arrangements from 2015/16.

According to consultations issued last week by the DCLG, conditions placed on Section 31 grants would force authorities to surrender a total of £400m of NHB funding nationally with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).