Local government reaction to the finance settlement
On the cuts...
Mayor Jules Pipe, chair of London Councils said: ‘We are only half way through the Government’s austerity programme and so far the boroughs have taken on an unequal share given that councils control less than 10% of total government spending.
‘Boroughs have already made massive efficiency savings and will continue to do so. However, we are approaching a situation where only the most essential services will be viable with little remaining for valued amenities that boroughs are not legally obliged to provide.’
He called on national politicians and civil servants to admit local government is far more efficient than ‘their own centralising bureaucracy’ and to devolve finances to the Mayor and the Boroughs.
County Councils Network Chairman, David Hodge, said spending was ‘reaching breaking point’.
‘Though the council tax threshold was not lowered, long term we need council tax freedom to meet local needs.The demand led pressures on our services, from care for vulnerable older people to school places, must be addressed with service transformation.
‘Longer term we need to free councils to achieve this transformation with the devolution of power and Whitehall budgets. We have a responsibility to meet the needs of our residents and we are ready for the extra powers to allow us to do so.'
Director of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, Graeme McDonald, said: ‘Government is beginning to recognise that councils have led the way on deficit reduction, but, with cuts and demand increasing, fragility is beginning to show.
‘The financial future of local services is unsustainable without a more ambitious plan for public service reform.’
On welfare assistance...
Local Government Association chair, Cllr David Sparks, said the government had ‘not listened to councils and charities’.
‘Instead of providing separate money for councils to help the vulnerable, government has instead suggested that councils will have to find this money from existing budgets, at a time when these are being cut by more than £2.5bn.
This would be robbing Peter to pay Paul,’ he added.
On inequity of funding...
Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, calculates his authority will loose 58% of its funding – or £329m – between 2011-17. Cuts in spending power in 2015/16 will hit 5.9% in his city, compared with the 1.8% average announced by the government.
‘We are facing the biggest financial challenge ever, and that there is no white charger coming over the hill to save us. In today’s announcement the Government have again limited the amount by which we can raise council tax. The Government talks about localism but acts in a way that means we are even more dependent on the 76% of our total budget that they provide, so we are unable to stand on our own two feet.’
Birmingham City Council leader, Sir Albert Bore, said his authority would lose more than £100m next year. He said he was ‘extremely disappointed’ the government had not amended funding to make it fairer in line with it’s proposals.
‘The cuts confirmed today are equivalent to almost £160 per dwelling and the cut is the greatest of all eight core cities in the country. This essentially echoes the warnings we issued when our budget white paper was published last week.’
