WIREDGOV

Responding to yesterday's Autumn Statement, Local Government Association (LGA) Chairman Sir Merrick Cockell, said: "Local government has already played a huge part in reducing the deficit and the Chancellor has today acknowledged that any further cuts on top of those already announced would push some councils to breaking point.

"At a time when local authorities are contending with the biggest cuts in living memory, there are signs in this Autumn Statement that local government is being listened to. Councils have consistently been calling for the Treasury to remove the housing borrowing cap which hampers our ability to build new homes. The easing of restrictions on housing investment announced today does not go as far as we would like, but it does show that our call for more local flexibility to drive economic growth has been recognised. Our concerns about potentially costly changes to the New Homes Bonus have been taken on board in the revised proposals announced today. This is good news for local services which otherwise would have taken an additional £400 million cut.

"By the end of this Parliament, local government funding will have fallen by £20 billion – a cut of 43 per cent. The next two years will be the toughest yet for people who use and rely on the vital everyday local services that councils provide. So far local authorities have largely restricted the impact of the cuts on their residents, working hard to save those services that people most value and protecting spending on social care for children and the elderly. But even these areas are now facing reductions. That impact will only increase over the next two years.

"The commitment to a permanent health and social care fund is a valuable step in the right direction but as the LGA has consistently argued, adult social care needs to be put on a sustainable financial footing or services will suffer.

"The current public sector model, with its highly centralised control of budgets and spending priorities, is inefficient and will struggle to function in the context of long-term cuts to public spending. We need nothing less than a fundamental reform of the way the public sector works and an honest reappraisal of what public services should look like in post-austerity Britain and how they should be paid for. Without it we risk an upturn in the economy coinciding with a collapse in public services."

Contact

Simon Ward, Local Government Association Media Office
Telephone: 020 7664 3333