Responding to the Comprehensive Spending Review, London Councils’ Chair Mayor Jules Pipe said:
"Councils in London are still left playing guessing games over the precise level of funding they can expect to receive to run services over the next four years.
"However, we do know that London local government’s share of general taxation in 2010/11 was £11.9 billion. A 26 per cent cut to this would amount to as much as £3.1 billion over four years.
"It’s not just the direct cuts to council funding that will have an impact on our services. We already know that housing benefit changes could force anywhere up to 83,000 families out of their homes and councils will have to meet the financial costs of housing them and deal with the social costs of the resulting family upheaval. Cuts like this will place even greater pressure on our already overstretched resources.
"London has significant challenges – higher levels of persistent unemployment, higher levels of child poverty and higher living costs than elsewhere. London local government has shown itself to be the most efficient and innovative part of the public sector, but we’ll only really see how severely councils services will be damaged when the provisional local government finance settlement is released later in the year.
"Between now and then, councils will have to prepare their communities for what could amount to dramatic cuts to services they had previously relied upon."
http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/media/current/pressdetail.htm?pk=1204
PDF version Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster, and Kensington and Chelsea councils in London have announced that they are looking to share all their services and save between £50m and £100m a year.
Described in some circles as creating the UK's first 'super-council', the plan goes further than simply pooling resources. While each council would keep its political identity with elected leaders and councillors as at present, the idea is that full services will be merged, such as children's services, family services, environmental services and corporate services, with the inevitable cost savings and job cuts resulting.
Working groups are currently looking at the proposals and will produce recommendations in February 2011 which will then be followed by a public consultation.
Paul Dimoldenberg, leader of the Labour group at Westminster City Council, warned that the plans – "hatched in secret by Conservative councillors" – would lead to poorer services and could see libraries and leisure centres closing as well as small schools. There would also be fewer local housing offices while nurseries, day centres for the old and disabled, children's centres and one stop service points would close.
Dimoldenberg said: "This is the biggest attack on local services ever contemplated and is a part of a plan by ideologically-driven Conservatives to cut services regardless of the personal cost to those who depend on public services – children, the vulnerable, the elderly and those on low incomes. At a stroke, local services in each borough that have taken years to build up will be slashed and destroyed for all time. It is criminal and residents have not even been consulted. The Conservatives say they believe in 'localism', but these plans will reduce local services and centralise decision making in the hands of three Conservative council leaders and a few unaccountable town hall officials."
But Stephen Greenhalgh, leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, told the BBC
: "There's a lot of bureaucracy involved with delivering local services. You often find that of the £3 we spend, £1 is spent deciding what to do with the other two. This is about minimising that overhead, and we still have political sovereignty, still have the ability to choose how we spend the money locally."
The Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said: "These councils are leading the way in local government and voters will expect others to get on board and follow suit. This is exactly the sort of innovation that will help councils to protect hard-working families and the most vulnerable. By sharing back-office services, they'll be able to protect the frontline – and even improve the choice and services that's on offer to local residents."
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon. George Osborne MP, revealed details of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) on 20 October 2010, covering the four years from 2011-12 to 2014-15. This briefing summarises the key aspects of the Spending Review 2010 for local authorities in London. It is, necessarily, high level.
The briefing touches on the folllowing:
- Local government funding 2010-11 – the cuts so far
- The impact of cuts announced in SR2010 for London, equating to approximately 27% of London authorities’ grants, excluding schools and police funding.
- Highlights relating to local government finance streams/funding by Government Department
- Other issues/announcements:
Further analysis will be undertaken by London Councils as more detailed information becomes available. For full details of CSR announcements, visit the Treasury website.
London Councils has issued a number of press releases, following the release of details of the Spending Review:
related articles
related documents
http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/localgovernmentfinance/briefings/csr.htm