What levelling up? Councils forced into tax rises and drastic service cuts
Poor levelling up. Any time any individual or body is going through the mill, it’s the fault of Levelling Up. Not the case in my book, but this article does point to a number of authorities in danger of intervention, some with rural footptrints
Levelling up secretary Michael Gove last week unveiled the government’s long-delayed plans to address regional and social inequalities, but cash-strapped councils across England are having to plan heavy cuts to frontline services after more than a decade of ongoing austerity. Recent funding increases have not undone £15bn of cuts in central government grants to local authorities between 2010 and 2020, and councils wrestling with the impact of Covid are set to pass a succession of savings measures plus widespread council tax increases. Several local authorities are facing votes on service cuts in the coming weeks.