Don’t snub begging letter

Does Chancellor Phillip Hammond have a caring, sharing side?

Well, council leaders are hoping that if he does, he reveals it in the autumn Budget.

Recent history suggests that we’d have more chance getting blood from a stone than getting cash from the Government coffers.

But, then again, we are surely due a break from the icy grip of austerity.

The Local Government Association has put forward a compelling case for a loosening of the purse strings.

According to their bean counters, almost 60p in every pound paid in council tax is set to be spent on caring for children and adults by 2020.

That alone means that there will be even less to spend on street cleaning, fixing potholes and running our leisure centres.

Currently we’re struggling to make ends meet with the 41p in the pound we spend on caring for the elderly, vulnerable adults and children.

The LGA warns that the money local government has to provide day-to-day services is running out fast.

Sunderland has felt the pinch more than most.

More than £295million has been taken out of its budgets in the last eight years.

Little wonder then that councillors are backing the LGA’s plea to the Chancellor use the autumn Budget to allow councils to keep every penny of taxes raised locally.

It’s a big ask, and if it were the only one being made of the Chancellor, there’s a chance it might be granted. Unfortunately, this begging letter is just one of many landing at the door of Number 11.

Sunderland needs help. If the Chancellor really cares for us up North, he needs to show it.