Andrew Stunell MP, Coalition Communities Minister, writes re the Local Government Settlement

Final Local Government Settlement (England only)

It is disappointing that the final settlement out this week has made only minor changes to the draft. The statement by Eric Pickles to the Commons is here:http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm110131/wmstext/110131m0001.htm#1101313000015  Key changes from the draft Settlement:

·                Extra £10m to compensate district councils for the transfer of funding for concessionary travel

·                Additional £11.6m has been put into the Transition Fund bringing the maximum ‘revenue spending power’ reduction from 8.9% to 8.8%

·                25% cut in Home Office Community Safety Fund grants (total falls from £77.2m this year to £56.8m next year)

·                Parish precepts now excluded from calculations of Spending Power·                Housing Market Renewal , LEGI and Eco Towns – spending has been corrected to take account of actual spend (which helps several councils in receipt of Transitional Grant)

Our Liberal Democrat Group Leader on the Local Government Association, Cllr Richard Kemp, has said,

 “Today’s announcement confirms what councils already knew. Local government will have to cover a funding shortfall of around £6.5bn in the next financial year, with some councils facing more than 16 per cent reductions in the amount of money they receive from the Government. It is the toughest settlement in living memory.

“We are disappointed that the Government has not listened to our request to take some of the sting out of the cuts by spreading them evenly over the next four years instead of heavily frontloading them. The speed and depth of the cuts mean that conventional efficiency drives, such as shared services, will fall well short of delivering the kind of savings needed to protect all the services councils provide.

Inevitably councils face extremely tough decisions on which services to save and which to cut. “The extra £10m to compensate district councils for the transfer of funding for concessionary travel to county councils will go a small way to addressing the shortfall they face. However, it doesn’t address the need for fundamental reform of the way free bus travel to the elderly and disabled is funded. County councils, who take over the responsibility for concessionary travel this year, will not receive enough money to pay for their new duty, with some facing shortfalls of millions of pounds.“Alongside today’s announcement on the main grant settlement, the belated announcement by the Home Office of a 25 per cent cut to Community Safety Partnerships funding endangers a vital service which combats crimes such as anti-social behaviour, domestic violence, graffiti, problem families and substance misuse. Councils have been waiting since December to hear about this part of the settlement, and the delay has made planning for the future extremely difficult.”