Local Government Funding

Jim Cunningham Excerpts

Monday 6th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

Does my right hon. Friend realise that Coventry city council, for example, will lose not only front-line staff, but £45 million over the next two or three years in different types of grants? Is that not an horrendous thing to inflict on the people of Coventry?

[Caroline Flint]

It is absolutely dreadful. As we will see in this debate, not only are the cuts unfair for the whole of local government; they will attack the poorest communities up and down the country. That is neither fair nor right, and it is not something that we would have done. This Government had a choice. They have chosen to cut deeper and faster, taking a huge gamble with jobs and growth. They could have shared the reductions in spending between Whitehall and town halls, but instead, they have chosen to dump cuts on local councils up and down the country. The Government could have spread the cuts evenly over four years, giving councils time to plan where savings could be made, but instead they chose to front-load them, so that councils are crippled by the heaviest cuts falling in the first year.

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[Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Jim Cunningham]

rose—

[Caroline Flint]

I will give way shortly to hon. Friends and to Government Members. I want to be generous because this is such an important issue.

The Secretary of State—I agree with him on this—wants councils to think how they might transfer assets to the community, which we enabled when we were in government, and involve voluntary groups and share back-room functions, which we also encouraged when we were in government. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the principle, but it cannot be done in a few rushed months: it takes time and planning, which the Government refuse to give to local authorities. As a result, the worry is that councils will simply go for the easiest and quickest cuts instead of thinking about how they save money while minimising service cuts and job losses.

--- Later in debate ---

[Caroline Flint]

I recognise the hon. Gentleman’s experience in local government; I believe he was leader of West Sussex county council.

The Secretary of State says that local councils have a choice:

“They can panic; they can slash and burn services regardless of the impact that will have. Or they can take the opportunity to completely rethink everything they are doing, creating a modern, flexible and innovative council.”

Councils should be modern and should embrace flexibility and innovation, but by imposing such huge, unprecedented front-loaded cuts on them he denies them that very choice. How can councils completely rethink everything in a matter of a few weeks?

[Mr Cunningham]

Does my right hon. Friend think that we have here a re-run of the ’80s, when the Conservatives cut the rate support grant and the housing allocation, local authorities were forced to sell old people’s homes and there were reductions among teachers and front-line staff. The House should not be filled up with that lot over there—they are using the recession as an excuse to inflict Thatcherite policies. Last week the Prime Minister admitted to being a child of Thatcher. Does not this House recognise what is going on right under its nose?

[Caroline Flint]

It is actually worse than the ’80s, because these cuts are deeper and faster, and they leave local government with very little choice. There are positive aspects to devolving power; we did a lot of it while we were in power. [Interruption.] It is true. I know that the Secretary of State likes to issue his diktats from the Department like some Joe Stalin, but rewriting history is a stretch too far.