Councils forced to cut budgets by £11bn and worse to come

Councils in England have been forced to cut almost £11bn from their budgets in the first two years of the Coalition government, according to data published by the Department for Communities and Local Government on local authority spending. 

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, is warning that far worse is yet to come following the spending round in 2013 and the Chancellor’s announcement on Monday.

Between 2010/11 and 2012/13 total government support for local authorities in England fell by £8.7bn –from £70.1bn to £61.3bn – a drop of almost 12.5%. Inflation and budget pressures added another £2bn of costs resulting in local authorities cutting budgets further. Service expenditure by local authorities in England fell by £10.8bn, from £91.1bn to £80.3bn. 

No area of the country has been spared. Birmingham City Council has been hit with a £175m reduction in central government support, with Kent County Council suffering a £186m reduction and Liverpool City Council forced to deal with £123m being slashed from its income.

Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, said:

“The figures showing that almost £11bn in real terms has already been cut from council budgets are truly shocking. They reveal the true scale of the devastating cuts that took place in the first two years of the Coalition government, and it is alarming that the worst is yet to come with another £5.2bn of cuts planned by 2015/16. 

“What these numbers don’t reveal is the human cost that these cuts have on real people in local communities who rely on public services. These cuts represent the loss of vital jobs and services with daycare, home care, libraries, children’s services and leisure facilities taking a real hit.”