Local Government Finance
Debate between Clive Betts and Simon Kirby(13 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr Betts
I am sorry, but I must make progress. Other Members want to speak in the debate.
My next point is one made by the Local Government Association on a cross-party basis. Why are the cuts front-end loaded? Will someone explain? Even if the Government feel that they have to make the cuts over the four-year period, why are they front-end loaded?
Simon Kirby
Does the hon. Gentleman think it is right that this country is paying £120 million per day to service the interest on the debt that his Government ran up?
Mr Betts
That is not the intervention that I was expecting. I thought that as those on the Front Bench could not help me, the Back Benchers would.
Why are the cuts front-end loaded? Why do nearly half the cuts come in the first year? I was in Croydon council on a Select Committee visit on Tuesday. Croydon council is a flagship Tory authority. It has participated in Total Place, it has community budgeting, it is part of the big society project and it is enthusiastic about it. The leader of the council sat across the table and said to me, “The thing that is really affecting us and may stop us delivering on projects like community budgeting and the big society is the front-end loading of the cuts, which is making it impossible for us to deal with them in a planned and organised way.”
That is a Conservative authority, and the Local Government Association is saying exactly the same. The front-end loading is forcing the cuts up front, which makes it harder to reorganise and to provide services in a different way. It means more money being spent on compulsory redundancies. It is a major problem, and nobody will explain why the cuts must be front-end loaded. Why?