14.04.15
Protected defence spending could leave councils at risk, warns Kerslake
Council budgets could be squeezed even further in a post-election spending round, as ministers are likely to protect the country’s defence budget due to political pressure, the former head of the Civil Service has suggested.
Lord Kerslake, who was until recently the permanent secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government, told the FT that the Ministry of Defence’s budget “to all intents and purposes is going to be protected” as a result of pressure from armed forces chiefs and backbenchers.
“So if we think about the pressure on the unprotected budgets, it’s even more acute if you think defence is unlikely to feature in huge measure,” he said.
The recently ennobled Lord Kerslake stated that local authorities had made cuts by “stripping out staff and dimming the lights” and even the “lean, mean Conservative councils would say they cannot see from the trajectories how they will make it work in two years’ time”.
The former chief executive of Sheffield City Council added that councils had achieved a lot in terms of savings in the last few years, but local government “can’t just simply be asked to do the same again”.
(Image: c. Cabinet Office)
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