NORTH SUFFERS THE MOST CUTS
Cities rocked by austerity
NORTHERN towns and cities have been hit hardest by council cutbacks.
Some have faced average cuts twice those of areas in the south.
Thinktank Centre for Cities found that councils risk “becoming little more than social care providers”.
Barnsley in South Yorks had the biggest spending fall, down 40%.
Second was Liverpool at 32% and Blackburn, Lancs, was also hit. Andrew Carter, head of Centre for Cities, said: “It is actually cities, and especially those in the north of England, that have been hit hardest by austerity.”
Richard Watts, of the Local Government Association’s Labour group on finance, said the cuts meant people felt “left behind”.
The Tory-controlled County Councils Network also lashed out at the lack of money available, claiming its members faced a £3.2billion shortfall by 2020.
But James Brokenshire, the Communities Secretary, said: “Local government is getting £1bn extra in funding – a realterms increase.”
IT’S official, the north has been treated worse than the south by Government cuts.
This won’t come as a surprise to many.
Since the drive for austerity in 2010, spending by councils across Britain has been cut in half.
But cities in the north have been losing out twice as badly as rural areas in the south.
This is clearly not fair.
Those who live in former industrial cities in the north of the country are already some of the poorest people in Britain.
It makes no sense that their vital services are being cut the most.
Meanwhile, wealthy folk in the Home Counties who don’t need the help are getting a better deal.
Austerity is bad enough as it is. The least the Government can do is make it fair.