Councils in a dire position

From: Roger Backhouse, Upper Poppleton, York.

CONGRATULATIONS on an excellent feature and comment about the financial crisis facing our local services from cuts to central government funding (The Yorkshire Post, February 6).

I doubt if the London-based press gave this story any coverage so pleased to see that The Yorkshire Post was on the ball about local concerns.

As the Commons Public Accounts Committee pointed out, local authorities are in a dire position thanks to cuts by central government, and rising costs of social care. This is to the detriment of all other local services, already looking decidedly shaky. No wonder our roads are a mass of potholes. Our libraries are run-down and the same is true of police services, no wonder we have rising crime and rural areas left seriously underpoliced.

With a Conservative government bogged down in Brexit, and Whitehall ever ready to criticise local government, the situation is truly dire. The planned council tax rises will nowhere near cover this serious shortfall.