The Chancellor must reverse the decade-long cuts and hand greater
control over taxes to local authorities in the Autumn Spending
Review on Wednesday, the Green Party has urged.
Ahead of Rishi Sunak’s announcement on Wednesday [November 25],
the Greens have highlighted how the centralisation of power and
funding has hampered the country’s response to the coronavirus
and climate crises.
Phélim Mac Cafferty, Green Party leader of Brighton and Hove
Council, said:
“The repeated failures of the Conservative government throughout
the pandemic have made it clear it is local councils which are
effectively responding on the ground to their communities.
“From running effective test and trace services, to providing
food and personal protective equipment (PPE), councils have risen
to the challenge where national government policy, and
outsourcing to private contractors, have clearly failed.
“Despite this, years of cuts to public services have now left
many councils on the brink. Councils have lost one in two pounds
in real-terms since relentless Conservative government cuts began
in 2010. News that Croydon council filed for bankruptcy only
weeks ago should come as a warning to Conservative ministers that
public services are at breaking point – precisely at the point
when they are needed most.
“From adult social care to children’s services, libraries and
public health, the Covid-19 pandemic has underlined that for many
these services are a lifeline. It’s also at a local level that
real change is happening on critical issues like the climate
emergency and the crisis in housing and homelessness. With proper
funding, councils can continue to lead the way, but cuts hold our
communities back.
“To steer us through this crisis we don’t just need emergency
cash bungs, we need a complete rethink of how funding is provided
to local communities, so they can not only survive but thrive in
the world beyond Covid-19. Councils haven’t yet been offered
‘more’ money, they have been handed a sticking plaster for a
broken bone.
“While we call for the greatest possible recognition of local
public services in the spending review, we know that a decade of
cuts to local services are not going to be swept away overnight.
Most of all, it’s high time that the government put trust in our
local communities and public services, who after years of cuts,
deserve nothing less than genuine investment.”
Local authorities have seen a reduction in core funding of almost
£16 billion over the last decade [1]. It has now been estimated
that councils face a £2bn gap between the funding provided and
the pressures faced as a result of Covid. [2]
At the same time, local authorities in England have extremely
limited power to raise revenue compared to other countries. In
2014 every other G7 national collected more taxes at either a
local or regional level.[3]
Green Party deputy leader said:
“Over the past decade this government has done everything it can
to undermine local authorities and concentrate power in Downing
Street.
“We have now seen the disastrous impact this has had on our
health, wellbeing and local economies.
“It is time for government to recognise just how damaging this
approach is and start to reverse the huge cuts it has made to
local authority budgets since 2010.
“From developing renewables and making homes energy efficient to
building an effective test and trace system, it is local councils
that know what their areas need and how to communicate with their
communities.
“That’s why we are urging the Chancellor to restore council
funding to sustainable levels that will protect communities and
frontline services, fulfil the government’s guarantee to
reimburse all Covid-related spending and announce a review into
the balance of taxation between national and local government.”
ENDS
Notes
1 https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/5.40_01_Finance%20publication_WEB_0.pdf
2 https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/15041
3 https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/tax-and-devolution
