Backing for campaign
● HALTON Borough Council’s leader has given his support to the Breaking Point campaign calling for the end of austerity for local councils.
Cllr Rob Polhill and the Halton Labour Group have joined with councillors from across the UK to back the campaign.
They say the campaign is to expose the crisis in council finances after £16bn in cuts since 2010 and is warning that more councils may fall into bankruptcy, after Northamptonshire.
Cuts have seen councils lose 60p out of every £1 that the last Labour Government was spending on local councils in 2010.
Halton Council has lost over £60m in funding since 2010.
Pressure on councils is increasing– last year councils were forced to spend an extra £800m on vital services to protect children, and with an ageing population and growing demand adult social care faces a funding gap of £3.5bn.
Across the UK only 14% of council workers are now confident that vulnerable residents are cared for.
The Breaking Point petition is the most signed petition of Labour councillors ever – with over 5,000 calling on the Prime Minister and Chancellor to use the Budget to cancel a further planned £1.3bn cut to councils.
They are also calling for an immediate cash injection to stop children’s services and adult social care from collapsing.
It has been signed by almost every Labour councillor in Halton and handed in to 10 Downing Street ahead of the Budget on October 29.