In an otherwise well-received and humourous speech to county leaders this week at the annual CCN event in Cornwall, local government minister, Phil Woolas, was, however, especially tetchy on the subject of finance. For, as a marker of their depth of concern, the bulk of questions from county leaders was not about unitary bids - although that dominated the chatter in between sessions - but about budgets. Mr Woolas said he had no intention of going back to the Treasury and holding out the begging bowl because there wasn't any more to be had. It was no good the counties or the LGA 'just being a pressure group', and, he added for good measure: 'I'm not interested in a debate on obscure funding formula.' He even pondered gloomily as to why, despite big increases in GDP per head over the past two decades, reflecting more prosperity, social services costs were rising even faster. 'Something is wrong,' he muttered, as if counties were somehow stacking the cash in suitcases under the leader's desk. The answer to the problem of rising costs, said Mr Woolas, was not to ask for more dosh, as Mother Brown's cupboard is bare, but to save backroom costs through shared services, greater partnership working and shared budgets through LAAs. But the LGA, in its own opening salvo for the next budget round, points out that non-school rises in council amount to 14% in the past decade, compared with the 90% in the NHS which, despite this, still has financial problems. This is against a backdrop of big increases in numbers of elderly and children with adults with mental disabilities, as well as rises in social care contract costs and residential homes. The demographic pressures that have led to rising demand on the NHS and encouraged the Government to plough in more funding for health also exist within social care. The difference is that ministers know the public is prepared to fund higher spending in the NHS, but not for local government, which lacks the glamour of the health service. So, a national problem which needs a national solution continues to end up at the doors of town and county halls.
