Council leaders from across England are meeting today in Liverpool to discuss the impact of government spending cuts.
Liverpool mayor, Joe Anderson, and the bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, will lead the event, entitled ‘Come Together’.
The leaders of Birmingham City Council, Newcastle City Council and Sheffield City Council, along with faith leaders from their areas are due to attend.
‘These are the toughest times ever for local government with unprecedented reductions in funding, which change forever the way in which we deliver services,’ said Mr Anderson.
‘Nobody will be left untouched by the scale of the cuts. Big cities have been hit the hardest, and in Liverpool we have lost more than half of our controllable government grant spending.
‘By 2017, we estimate we will have lost £289m a year since 2010.’