How has local government reacted to the Budget 2014? We round up what everyone is saying here:
Housing:
‘Untie hands’ of councils to increase supply, says Local Government Association
‘Much more can be done to build new homes, create jobs and stimulate the economy if local government’s hands were untied by the Chancellor to drive this through at a local level,’ LGA chairman, Sir Merrick Cockell, said.
‘We will continue pressing government to unlock the potential of local areas to solve these national problems through putting local businesses, colleges and councils in control of tackling youth unemployment and giving local authorities greater freedom to invest in new housing and infrastructure.’
Budget a ‘missed opportunity’, claims National Housing Federation
‘Measures like Help to Buy are likely to stimulate demand for housing but the Budget does not go far enough to boost the supply of homes needed to meet that demand,’ NHF chief executive, David Orr.
‘The Chancellor says the 23% increase in house building is not enough and we agree with him. While he has taken some steps - like a new garden city - to increase supply, we were disappointed that he did not include measures to deliver homes more quickly, at little or no cost to the taxpayer.’
Chartered Institute of Housing welcomes focus on Garden Cities
‘If we are going to build the number of homes that we need to solve the housing crisis, garden cities and other new developments are going to be a huge part of the mix. The Chancellor’s announcement of the Ebbsfleet garden city and developments in Barking, Riverside and Brent Cross is a welcome recognition of this. We hope this is start of things to come and that we will see more major announcements that will contribute to the supply of new homes.
Departmental budgets:
Reform and affordability ‘remain the mantra’ says PwC UK
‘For those in the public sector,’ Nick C Jones, director, PwC UK says, ‘recession will continue for the foreseeable future. Cuts will accelerate further in the next few years, although the Chancellor’s cap on welfare is an attempt to avoid all of the pain being felt by central government departments.’
‘Reform and affordable government remain the mantra. At the same time, public sector wages are being constrained, posing further challenges for engaging staff and increasing public sector productivity. And there remain some big unanswered questions such as whether ring-fencing protection for health, schools, international development and pensioners can really be maintained.’
Councils must receive support to deliver services believes Zurich Municipal
‘In the Chancellor’s words, this was a budget for a “resilient economy” and with no reprieve in budget cuts, resilience is absolutely what we need. If we are to create the foundations for long lasting reform, councils must be supported to continue to deliver efficient local services that lead in turn to resilient local communities,’ director of public sector at Zurich Municipal, Andrew Jepp, said.
‘“Business as usual” was the overriding message in the Government’s economic agenda and for local authorities it looks like that means no let-up in the challenges they face over the next two years. Through innovation, many local authorities have been able to continue to deliver high quality services. The challenge now is to increase those savings without adversely affecting long-term service delivery.’
Roads and Flooding:
Funding signals commitment to better protection, says Institution of Civil Engineers
‘The additional £140m funding for flood defences repairs and £200m for road damage is welcome and signals a commitment to better protecting homes and businesses from flooding and building resilience into our transport networks,’ ICE director general Nick Baveystock said.
‘We are disappointed however that Government missed the opportunity to provide the longer term certainty needed to improve our flood resilience by committing to an investment programme for flood risk management which protects funding beyond the current five year cycle.’
Public spending:
Ministers must ‘look from small to better Government’ thinks EC Harris
‘Despite some positive news with regards to investment in housing and infrastructure, the news from this Budget reinforces that this Government is not doing enough and not quick enough,’ head of public sector at EC Harris, Philip Black.
‘With 700,000 new school places needed by 2020, 280,000 new homes every year to 2031 and demand for care home places set to double by 2026, this Government must be looking at more intelligent spending to drive initiative and growth and to join up the spending of public money. They have made the move from big to small local government they must now look from small to better Government.’
