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The next government will have to slash £11bn from council budgets, according to the Local Government Association. Major parties are not spelling out where the axe will fall, leading to a "guessing game" with the £105bn annual spend, the LGA's director of finance says. Stephen Jones told his annual £345 a-head finance conference that demographic pressures mean spending will have to RISE to £110bn in three years. Extra charges on rubbish collection were not being ruled out and the sustainability of free bus passes for the over-60s was also questioned.
15% cuts warned - threats to the capital
As things stands schools, social care, roads and green projects will bare the brunt of shrinking budgets - the Conservatives and Labour have promised to ring-fence spending on health and international aid. This implies a gap of around £11bn a year, or more than 10 per cent of local authority spending, Jones said. Cuts of 15% were also likely according to Steve Freer, chief executive of Cipfa, the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy. This week the Home Office announced policing cuts of £500m a year over the next five years and several London councils were singled out for concern in the quality of social care. The capital's £15.9bn Crossrail project is also subject to a review by a possible Conservative government.
"Tackle waste" - "managed reductions"
Jones claimed £4.5bn a year would be be saved by cutting inspection and regulation of local services - saying the government "clearly needs to tackle waste first" Jones went further in examining the role and duties of local authorities, saying: "Over the past years we have developed a culture of increasing the benefits from public services, and talking about people's 'entitlements', and in general giving the impression that public services can go on getting better and wider. But to deal with this crisis, we may need to move to managed reductions in demand ."
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