One of the most brutal consequences of more than a decade of Conservative austerity is the effect it has had on local services delivered by councils.
While demand has risen, a quarter of council funding from government has been cut in real terms since 2010 under the Conservatives. Council tax has become a bigger and bigger slice of the funding pie to plug the gap and stop services collapsing completely.
Fifteen years after austerity cuts began we can see the consequences all around us; Sure Start centres gone, libraries closed or scaled back, roads in a worse state and charges introduced for things you used to get for free. The legacy is enormous pressures on budgets for care for the elderly, support for the disabled and for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and children in care.
Ever the opportunists, local Tories are slamming Labour for the current situation. But they have very short memories. In 2020, Conservative led Allerdale Council announced in its budget press release that “The budget has been set in the climate of continued financial pressures for local authorities… the amount it [Allerdale Council] receives in government grants has dropped by 96 per cent since 2013/14.”
The truth is this is now a problem that needs fixing, rather than a political football to be kicked. Conservative run councils are in exactly the same position and are making the same decisions to increase council taxes or make brutal cuts to local services like waste collection, road repairs and social care. As the Conservative deputy leader of Lancashire County Council said last year when setting their last budget under a Conservative government: “Whilst the Government has increased funding in some areas, the hard truth is that it is simply not enough to plug the gaps we have in our budget”.
We finally have a government committed to building back up our local services and Cumberland has done well from Labour’s settlement. Overall, Cumberland has received a 6% boost to its core spending power, including a record £13 million for local public health initiatives, an extra £7 million for roads, £5 million to support local bus services, a further £652,000 for disabled facilities grants and a share of the government’s £1 billion boost to SEND support.
In addition, the government is giving Cumberland access to £23.5 million extraordinary financial support, along with 29 other councils of all political stripes, to support its recovery, protect local services and avoid the need for higher council tax rises.
I’m not here to defend the council. I will represent the interests of my constituents without fear or favour, regardless of who is in charge locally or nationally. Cumberland needs to spend extra money wisely to stabilise council finances, deliver good quality public services and invest in improving our communities. I know Labour councillors are committed to those goals and they have my support to deliver.
Josh MacAlister MP 