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LGA responds to DCLG savings agreement ahead of the spending review
Lord Porter, Chairman of the Local Government Association, responded to the Department for Communities and Local Government's provisional agreement on its day-to-day resource spending over the next four years.
"Yesterday’s announcement on departmental spending settlements covers DCLG's own budget and not local government funding. We hope this is an early indication that DCLG is leading by example by looking at ways to absorb some of the funding cuts it will need to make as part of the Spending Review rather than passing them onto local government. We would encourage other Whitehall departments to follow suit.
"A similar size reduction to core council funding would leave councils facing £16.5 billion in funding reductions and increased cost pressures by the end of the decade. This would have a significant impact on the ability of councils to continue protecting the services communities rely on.
"Government needs to consider the pressure funding reductions to councils would have not just on vital local services but on the public sector more widely.
"For example, investing in the NHS while social care services remain chronically underfunded is a false economy. This means less support is available for elderly and vulnerable people to help them live in their community and stay out of hospital for longer which will increase pressure on the health services as a result.
"Instead, we need to find a new way of working that ensures public money is controlled by local areas who know how best to spend it. This will not only help us improve services but also help achieve shared local and central government ambitions to boost housebuilding, close skills gaps and grow local economies and relieve pressure on the Exchequer.
"We continue to work closely with Greg Clark and his DCLG team to provide them with the evidence to help him win this argument with the Treasury."
View the Local Government Association’s 2015 Spending Review Submission here:
