Concerns for council services revealed as cuts continue to bite

TWO-THIRDS OF councils are expecting to see the quality of services fall over the next three year as they cope with continued funding cuts.

Concern was higher among those councils responsible for providing care for the elderly.

The report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) and accountancy firm PWC, also found evidence of confusion over the Government’s future funding plans for councils.

Ministers have said they want to end the main government grant to councils but allow town halls to keep growth in local business rates rather than sending the money to the Treasury.

LGiU chief executive Jonathan Carr-West said: “Councils currently have little certainty as to how they will be funded beyond 2020.

“The impact of 100 per cent business rate retention looks increasingly uncertain.

“For councils, who have been told in recent years that they should be investing in their local economy so that they will be able to fund themselves through business rates post-2020, the current lack of policy direction adds yet another layer of uncertainty and complexity to their financial planning.

“There is now an opportunity to have a rethink about how we broaden the local tax base to create a sustainable way of funding services in the long-term.

“More creative approaches to fiscal devolution were ruled out of the initial round of devolution talks: it’s time to revisit them.”

Two-thirds of councils were unable to say whether they were benefitting from existing measures to allow authorities to retain half the growth in local business rates.