27.11.13
The north-east is hardest hit by cuts – Sigoma
Councils facing the highest costs are set to see the largest cuts over the next five years, a new report has warned.
The Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities (Sigoma) found that between 2010 and 2017/18, an average council in the north-east will lose £665 per person compared with just £305 per person in the south-east of England.
The report said: “The government has failed to consider the cumulative impact of their reforms on councils, only assessing one change at a time. The large number of changes means that the same councils are being hit again and again with cuts in funding.
“Following years of disproportionate funding cuts councils have had to find significant savings so far; with opportunities for further savings now harder to find and given the rising cost of adult social care, some services are now at breaking point.”
It is published on an opposition day debate on the cost of living and ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement next week.
Steve Houghton, Sigoma chair and leader of Barnsley council, said: “The government must make fair funding a key priority to allow councils to provide essential services without the growing distraction of a service failure.”
But local government minister Brandon Lewis said: “This crude lobbying exercise is based on made-up extrapolations designed to scaremonger rather than inform public debate. Council funding is fair to north, south, rural and urban areas. It is distributed to ensure the smallest reductions for the councils most reliant on government support.”
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