Secretary of State for Local Government, Eric Pickles, has announced details of cuts to council budgets.
Greenwich Council is in line for a cut of 7.72% in its “revenue spending power” in 2011-2012 and by 4.4% the year after.
Revenue spending power is determined by adding the formula grants and specific grants from central government to income from Council Tax. From 2011-2012, councils will also be allocated money from NHS budgets to spend on local social care.
Formula grants come from a central allocation which is the same for all local authorities delivering the same services and specific grants are ring-fenced for certain priorities and projects.
Eric Pickles told the House of Commons yesterday that he had “sought achieve a fair and sustainable settlement for local government” but that “every part of the public sector needs to do its bit to help to reduce the highest deficit in the UK’s peacetime history and the rapidly rising national debt that this Government have inherited.”
He added that he had “set aside £650 million so every council can freeze council tax next year without hitting local services.”
Caroline Flint, Labour’s Shadow Local Government Secretary, said “these cuts will hit front-line services and cause massive job losses in the public and private sectors. For all Ministers’ traipsing around the TV studios pretending that savings of this magnitude can be made by efficiency drives and sharing back-room functions alone, the reality is very different-and everybody knows it.”
Whilst the headline figures have been announced by the Government, Greenwich.co.uk understands that council officers are still examining the details of specific grant allocations to full understand their impact.
The first details of cuts being put forward by Greenwich Council emerged last week in a report considered by the Budget and Scrutiny committee. The package of measures – covered in greater detail by Darryl at 853 – includes job losses, such as lift attendants in the foot tunnels, cuts to grants to local voluntary groups and raising more revenue through parking costs.