'Council grants cuts vary from 4.8% to 17.3%' - LGC
Aylesbury Vale district council is facing a 17.3% cut in its grant from central government, compared with a 4.8% cut for Surrey county council, according to an early examination of the figures by the Local Government Chronicle (LGC).
The Conservative peer Baroness Margaret Heaton, Chair of the Local Government Association, said that the detailed figures (available below) reveal “a total funding shortfall of £6.5 billion over the next year.”
Announcing the settlement, Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (CLG), placed the responsibility for protecting local frontline services firmly with local councils:
“With very few exceptions, we have ended grant ring-fencing so that councils can decide for themselves how their money is spent.”
“Councils now have the freedom and responsibility to concentrate on what residents want: protecting front-line services.
“Councils can protect front-line services by sharing services and back-office functions, improving procurement to get more for less, bringing increasing senior pay under control and using transparency to cut waste,” he said.
- LGC article (log-in required)
- Detailed settlement figures
- Mr Pickles’ statement
- Margaret Heaton’s LGA response
15 December 2010
