Local Authority Financial Sustainability: NAO Report
Debate between Stephen Lloyd and Mike Amesbury(6 years, 8 months ago)
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Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the National Audit Office report on the financial sustainability of local authorities, HC 834.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Evans. I will start by doing something very simple that we do not do enough in this place, or in the political world more broadly: saying thank you. I want to say thank you to our councillors, mayors and local government staff. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] As a former councillor, I know that local government holds our communities and services together and makes our towns and cities what they are. Our local government leaders take decisions and hold responsibility for budgets that directly affect their constituents just as much as, if not more than, many Members of Parliament. They deserve more recognition and respect for that than they are sometimes given. However, since 2010 their very challenging job has become almost impossible. The National Audit Office report makes it clear that funding has been cut by nearly 50%.
Stephen Lloyd (Eastbourne) (LD)
I thank the hon. Gentleman for securing this important debate. The Times, which is not known for its hyperbole, stated recently in an editorial:
“All politics is local, and local government is going bust”.
Does he agree that the Government are culpable and must take responsibility for their funding decisions, and that it is down to them to stop local government going bust?
Mike Amesbury
I do. As a result of that 50% cut, services have been drastically reduced. Pressures and demands are increasing, but the Government have failed year after year to provide councils with fair and sufficient funding.