{"id":17597,"date":"2019-03-13T11:54:06","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T11:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=17597"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:57:09","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:57:09","slug":"james-lazou-council-cuts-poorest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=17597","title":{"rendered":"‘Our communities deserve better’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Despite talk of \u00e2\u20ac\u0098deal dividends\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Brexit bribes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, there seems to be no end in sight for local government when it comes to austerity. As the Local Government Association (LGA) recently highlighted\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bcouncils were at the front of the queue when austerity started,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 yet they seem to be at right at the back when it comes to reversing the cuts.<\/p>\n

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Last month the LGA reported that \u00e2\u20ac\u015blocal government in England faces an overall funding gap of \u00c2\u01418 billion by 2025.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 They claim that this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s forthcoming Spending Review will \u00e2\u20ac\u015bbe make or break for vital local services\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bif the Government fails to adequately fund local government in the Spending Review then there is a real risk to the future financial viability of some services and councils.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth highlighting the extent of the damage already done to local government since 2010. Councils are expected to have lost 60p out of every \u00c2\u01411 the Government had formerly provided for services between 2010 and 2020. In the next financial year alone, the main government grant funding for local services is due to be cut by a further \u00c2\u01411.3 billion (36 per cent).<\/p>\n

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This is certainly the picture painted by Unite members up and down the country facing job cuts, low pay, outsourcing and privatisation. The impact of the cuts has been devastating on service users and staff alike. Since 2010 the local government workforce has been cut by hundreds of thousands\u00c2\u00a0 while local government workers continue to be the lowest paid across the public sector .<\/p>\n

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Social care, social work, libraries, road maintenance, children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s services, nurseries, refuse and recycling, parks, youth and play services, community centres, housing and homelessness \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all have faced some form of cut backs, contraction or reorganisation since 2010. Unite members in community and voluntary sector organisations have also also suffered severely as councils seek to pass on cuts to grant funded, outsourced and commissioned services.<\/p>\n

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A recent damning report by the Bureau of Investigative Journalists and Huffpost UK found that the local government funding crisis has become so dire that councils have sold thousands of public spaces, such as libraries, community centres and playgrounds in order to plug budget gaps. In some cases, local authorities had used the money raised simply to pay for hundreds of redundancies, including in vital frontline services.
\nSuch a fire sale approach does nothing to rebuild the long-term sustainability of councils and undermines their core capital base and their long-term capacity.<\/p>\n

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Yet rather than fix this crisis the Government appears to be doubling down on cuts. Analysts from the IFS and IoG\u00c2\u00a0 predict that council budgets will continue to be slashed for the foreseeable future. The \u00e2\u20ac\u0098end of austerity\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is safeguarded for the NHS, the Ministry of Defence and other \u00e2\u20ac\u0098protected\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 areas of government spending while \u00e2\u20ac\u0098unprotected\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 areas, such as local government, will continue to be cut.<\/p>\n

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Local authority cuts have not fallen on those \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwith the broadest shoulders\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 either. Rather, they appear to have been largely targeted at the poorest areas of the country . Nine of the ten most deprived councils in the country have seen cuts of almost three times the national average. Not content, the Government is continuing to make this inequality worse – consulting on funding reforms that will disproportionately benefit wealthier councils.<\/p>\n

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The Government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bungling of Brexit negotiations has not made matters better with council leaders concerned about replacing EU Social Funds and the local economic impact that Brexit uncertainty is having on major employers in their area. For example Unite shop stewards have reported social workers being put onto rolling one-year contracts due to uncertainty over EU Social Funding.<\/p>\n

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So if the Chancellor does find the mythical \u00e2\u20ac\u015bmagic money tree\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 again next week to try to sure up May\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unpopular Brexit deal, Unite will be demanding it is used to reverse local government cuts and rebuild our local authorities. Our communities deserve better!<\/p>\n

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