Chancellor has let down local communities by not backing councils, Greens warn

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has failed to support local communities in his spending review today by refusing to announce proper funding for local authorities, the Green Party has said.

Responding to the spending review, Green Party deputy leader Amelia Womack said:

“The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted just how destructive this government has been in undermining local authorities.

“This spending review was an opportunity to rectify this costly mistake, yet once again we have seen nowhere near enough help for councils to take effective action on the ground.

“Local authorities must have control of their own finances, not have to take the begging bowl to Westminster.

“We don’t want a national fund to allow Conservative MPs in marginal seats to fund their favourite local bypass. What we need is a national strategy for low carbon transport and active travel.

“This sort of Green New Deal investment would mean hundreds of thousands of jobs in all our communities.

“The Chancellor’s wilful disregard of the essential work councils do means this government has once again let down communities up and down the country.

“For real change, the Chancellor should have restored council funding to sustainable levels, fulfilled the government’s guarantee to reimburse all Covid-related spending and announced a review into the balance of taxation between national and local government.”