Councils’ spending cuts revealed
Under the strap line ‘a fair deal for councils and fair bills for taxpayers’ the Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has provided a Written Statement on the proposed local government settlement 2013-2014. Describing the settlement as “fair to all parts of the country – rural or urban, district or county, city or shire – meaning councils can deliver sensible savings while protecting frontline services”, it appears that council “spending power” will be 2.9% lower over the period 2014-2015. Mr Pickles has promised a £9.5 million fund “so that the most rural local authorities can continue to drive forward efficiencies in their area”. But the impact of these cuts matter because as Mr Pickles himself explains, “English local government accounts for £1 of every £4 spent on public services”. In research we recently prepared for Defra, finding alternative ways of delivering public services requires adequate financial, business and user planning, capacity and leadership. Will this settlement lead Councils to think creatively in the face of budget reductions? And what will the relationship be between short term necessity and longer term planning? Some of the responses to the Statement suggest 2014-2015 will be “a crunch year”. For many people in local government, Christmas and the New Year will be time spent finding new/further ways of balancing the books.