Title

Council coffers were dealt a double blow this week, when ministers rejected calls to ease front-loaded grant cuts over the next four years, and the Home Office belatedly announced a 25% cut to local anti-crime projects. The Local Government Association responded with regret to local government minister Bob Neill's final finance settlement for 2011/12, which was published on 31 January and offered few last-minute concessions to struggling town halls. Mr Neill announced an extra £10m to compensate district councils for the transfer of funding for concessionary travel to counties. Following a month-long consultation period after December's provisional finance settlement, Mr Neill also announced seven new authorities – including the cities of Bradford andSunderland – would receive the transitional grant, set up to ease vulnerable areas through the withdrawal of the working neighbourhoods fund. Minor adjustments also mean the Government has ‘capped' the reduction in ‘total revenue spending' at any council this year at a maximum of 8.8%, a slight improvement on the 8.9% figure announced before Christmas. In total, around £11m of extra transitional grant has been allocated on top of the £85m already announced. ‘We have listened to views and looked hard at the figures, and have pushed more money to those most dependent on grant,' Mr Neill said. But, in his response for the LGA, Cllr Richard Kemp, leader of the Liberal Democrats at Smith Square, said the revised settlement merely ‘confirms what councils already knew – local government will have to cover a funding shortfall of around £6.5bn in the next financial year'. The LGA had lobbied ministers to ease the impact of the front-loaded cuts implicit in the 27% four-year grant cut announced by chancellor George Osborne in his Spending Review last autumn. Cllr Kemp said: ‘We are disappointed that the Government has not listened to our request to take some of the sting out of the cuts by spreading them evenly over the next four years.' He warned the ‘speed and depth' of the cuts meant conventional methods of saving council cash, such as shared services, would not cover the local cuts required. Cllr Kemp added: ‘Alongside [the] announcement on the main settlement, the belated announcement by the Home Office of a 25% cut to community safety partnerships endangers a vital service which combats crimes such as anti-social behaviour and domestic violence.'

Title

WHITEHALL

Dismay as ministers reject plea to ease front-loading

SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING