Over the past few years, Teignbridge has experienced first hand the negative impact on services that unevenly targeted Government funding can cause. The Concessionary Bus Fares scheme has left a £1.5m deficit in this year's budget alone, and has already forced politicians to take unpopular steps to balance budgets.
It's Groundhog Day, then, as we grapple with the prospect of the South West losing nearly a third of its funding for one specific priority - private sector renewal funding. It is an essential service which enables local councils to work in partnership to provide safe, low cost quality housing to those in need.
Despite a relatively generous £787m provision for the regional housing pot from Communities and Local Government (CLG), the South West Regional Assembly (SWRA) confirmed local councils would be facing a £46m cut in allocation for private sector renewals in order to commit more money to meeting CLG's affordable housing targets.
Let's be clear: the SWRA isn't to blame. Nor can we find fault with the idea of providing more affordable housing. Everybody deserves a decent roof over their head, but in this instance the forced decision to cut private sector renewal funding is a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul which will have severe and far-reaching consequences. We need more affordable homes, but not at the expense of the quality of our private sector housing.
We have to consider the long lead-time for affordable housing, compared with the more immediate effect of Private Sector Housing Grants; the high cost of assisting homeless people compared with preventing homelessness by renovating sub-standard homes; and the high number of partnerships and projects placed at risk by cuts in funding, compounded by the uncertainty over funding continuity.
So, here we are again, gazing in to the abyss, standing on the precipice of a funding crisis which could affect hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people across the South West.
So what's the answer? Recognition of the issue by DCLG and a commitment to provide significantly more funding in 2009-11 to avoid denying those in private sector housing the quality of home they deserve. We've all seen what happens when the Government doesn't provide adequate or targeted funding to implement its aspirational ideas and deliver on its promises. With the proposals now only waiting on a ministerial signature our best strategy is likely to be continued lobbying to repair this funding damage in the near future.
