Government ‘is in denial’ over council funding crisis
Local authorities ‘made to cut services’
MPS HAVE demanded an end to austerity for cash-strapped local councils, as they rounded on Communities Secretary James Brokenshire in a fiery House of Commons debate.
And in a damning new report, the Government has been accused of being “in denial” about the growing financial pressure on local authorities.
In a statement in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Brokenshire said he was committed to “celebrating and supporting” councils as they sought to help their areas and residents “flourish with no one left behind”.
And he added: “To achieve this they must have the necessary tools and resources to do their job and I am determined to ensure that they get them.”
The Government announced last month that it would allow local authorities to raise council tax by up to three per cent in the coming financial year as part of wider funding review.
But angry MPs yesterday confronted Mr Brokenshire over the impact of years of cuts on local services and questioned the Government’s proposals for a new funding model.
Sheffield MP and Communities Committee chairman Clive Betts accused Ministers of planning to “transfer money from deprived areas to non-deprived areas” through a proposed rule change.
And Shadow Communities Secretary Andrew Gwynne said that councils had been “hung
out to dry” through years of underfunding, adding that they had been subjected to “unprecedented levels of cuts”.
Meanwhile, a cross-party group of MPs accused the Government of being “in denial” about the mounting financial pressures on local authorities.
In a report released today, the influential Public Accounts Committee warned that councils’ finances were deteriorating amid growing demand for vital services.
It stated: “Over the last eight years, the Government has cut the funding it gives to English local authorities by nearly half, while, at the same time, demand for critical council services has risen – housing is under strain with over a third more people homeless and adult and children social care are confronted with growing demand.”
It described some local authorities as being in a “worrying position” as they come under increasing pressure to overspend on social care while reducing other key services, with many being forced to fall back on financial reserves and rely on generating other sources of income.
Committee chairwoman Meg Hillier said: “The Government is in denial about the perilous state of local finances. It insists the sector is sustainable yet is unwilling or unable to back up this claim.”
In Yorkshire, Leeds City Council has announced plans for a council tax hike of 3.99 per cent, which it will use to plug the gap in social care service funding.
The local authority has seen a reduction in core government funding of £266m since 2010 and will see further cuts of £15.2m next year, which amounts to a 7.7 per cent annual reduction.
Elsewhere, North Yorkshire County Council has seen an overall reduction of nearly 40 per cent in its spending power since 2011.
It is also planning a council tax rise of 2.99 per cent along with a two per cent social care precept.
Ministers plan to transfer money from deprived areas. Sheffield MP and Communities Committee chairman Clive Betts
AN OBJECT lesson in how not to provide for the long-term is, once again, provided by Communities Secretary James Brokenshire – and his complacency over town hall funding. He played down the social care crisis by pointing to the extra money made available by Ministers and how local authorities have been given extra discretion to raise council tax bills.
Yet, when householders receive higher bills on the eve of May’s local elections, Mr Brokenshire – and his Ministerial colleagues – will change their message and claim profligate councils are at fault.
They cannot have it both ways. However, as hundreds of people are forced each day to give up work to care for loved ones, this obfuscation is totally disingenuous when the issue at stake is the treatment of vulnerable people by society.
And these are the home truths that Mr Brokenshire needs to acknowledge. For nine years, councils across Yorkshire – and the rest of the country – have had to impose austerity measures while dealing with sustained increases in demand for social care provision and special education needs in particular.
The figures are stark. According to the Centre for Cities think-tank, just four out of 62 British cities spent the majority of their budget on social care 10 years ago. Now half of them do. And this is confirmed by the National Audit Office which says councils spend, on average, 55 per cent of their budgets on social care compared to 45 per cent in 2010-11.
This trend isn’t going to change – it is likely to intensify – and both are issues that will have to be factored into this year’s Comprehensive Spending Review that is intended to determine Britain’s spending priorities once the impact of Brexit becomes clearer. Even assuming, for now, that the UK leaves the European Union on March 29, the spending review cannot be completed until the Government explains how it intends social care to be funded in the long-term. A Green Paper was expected last Autumn. Yet it is still pending. And, because of this, councils can’t plan for the future. The consequence? More families left in limbo while Ministers play the political equivalent of pass the parcel.