Tory Government has starved our councils

WE will all have noticed the decline in council services ranging from potholes to school funding. These cuts affect us all. Hampshire County Council is consulting on what services they should cut further as the Local Government Association estimates that councils in England have a funding gap of over £4bn over the next two years. One in five English local authorities are in danger of bankruptcy this year or next, with half not confident that they have the money to fulfil their legal duties next year.

Concern about funding is crossparty, with both Tory Hampshire and Labour Southampton unable to meet their needs under current arrangements.

Why have we got to this place? Basically, cuts in the central government grant whilst expecting councils to do much more.

The National Audit Office estimates that between 2010/2011 and 2021/2022 the real spending power of English councils was reduced by 29 per cent.

An ageing population requires increasing complexity and cost of care – the Health Foundation suggests that £14bn may be needed by 2030/31 to fund adult social care alone. Meanwhile, the number of looked after children is over 80,000 and rising.

The Conservative Government’s approach for councils to use reserves and capital receipts to subsidise their revenue expenditure is fundamentally wrong and unsustainable.

Most councils have reached the limits of what can be achieved by efficiency savings.

How do we move forward?

As the pandemic demonstrated, local government is key to delivering cheaper and more effective solutions to the biggest issues for the public.

The next Government must put in place a proper long-term funding of local government and, as a matter of urgency, close the £4bn funding gap.

We must also address the elephant in the room and build a consensus on long-term funding of social care. LUIGI GREGORI

Liberal Democrat prospective Parliamentary candidate for North West Hants