With a new survey revealing that 1 in 3 chief executives believe
that their council will have to reduce to a minimum
statutory offer if cuts continue, Solace has today released a new
call to action to make local services sustainable.
The survey of council chief executives, conducted by Solace and
the MJ in September 2018, also found that:
- 1 in 6 indicate have lost about half of their controllable
budget since 2010
- 57 per cent have lost between a quarter and a third of their
workforce since 2010
- 55 per cent believes that they will have to reduce universal
services if cuts continue
Solace, which is the representative body for over 1300 chief
executives and senior managers in local government and
across the public sector, also released the findings of new
research that shows that local services currently operate on
an unstable funding base characterised by:
- A proliferation of time-limited special purpose funding
streams. Solace estimates that at least 106 different grants
amounting to £5.5 billion have been established across 16
central government departments and agencies since 2010.
- Constant chopping and changing of finance policy, which Solace
likens to a game of “snakes and ladders” usually involving a
modest localisation of power followed by a funding cut.
- Underfunding of new responsibilities, with a new statutory duty
to reduce homelessness the latest in a long line of new
burdens whose costs Parliament shunts on to local taxpayers.
In Sustainable local services: a call to action, Solace has set
out recommendations for securing the long-term
sustainability of local public services as well as a 10-point
action plan. Key elements of long-term reform include fiscal
reform, devolution and place-based budgets. The 10-point plan
sets out commitments from central government that would help
councils stabilise local services in the short-term,
including multi-year funding settlements, an independent
assessment of council funding pressures and full funding for
any new duties for as long as they remain in statute.
On launching the call to action, Solace Spokesperson for Local
Government Finance Martin Reeves said:
“Councils are increasingly unable to cope with the lottery of
local government finance. The road is fast running out for
local services unless the questions of sufficiency, flexibility,
certainty and stability of funding are addressed now. We
believe that there are steps that Government can commit
to immediately to secure the brighter future for public
services that local residents have been told to expect. But
there are also fundamental issues such as the reform of council
tax and business rates that we simply cannot keep kicking
into the long grass.
"No other developed country seeks to fund social services
primarily from outdated property taxes, nor gives local
people so little say over how public spending is used in their
areas. If the UK is to be globally competitive in a
post-Brexit world, we cannot afford to be an outlier anymore.
Headlines in international newspapers about English councils
facing bankruptcy are not the story we want told about our
country’s future. Sustainable local services help people and
places thrive. With backing from Government, that is the
outcome we can secure for our residents and the image we can
project to the world.”
