Agenda item

Local Government Funding Cuts

It was moved by Councillor Julie Dore, seconded by Councillor Sioned-Mair Richards, that this Council:-

(a)       fully supports the open letter signed by 151 Council Leaders from all political parties to the Chancellor of the Exchequer expressing concerns that further cuts to local government in the next spending review would have a devastating impact on services;

(b)       recalls comments from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, The Rt. Hon. Danny Alexander MP, that local government has "borne the brunt of deficit reduction”, noting that Council funding from central government will have been cut by 33 per cent since this Government came into power and in comparison Whitehall departments will have faced average reductions of 12 per cent;

(c)        agrees with the letter that local government bore the brunt of cuts in the last spending review and for the sake of the public it cannot afford to do so again;

(d)       believes it would be bad for the country, bad for people and bad for our prospects of economic recovery if funding for local services is cut further; and

(e)       urges the Government to listen to the Local Government Association letter and also to reconsider the distribution of cuts which has resulted in heavy cuts to Sheffield whilst some councils in the wealthiest parts of the country receive almost no cuts at all.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, seconded by Councillor Andrew Sangar, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council” and the substitution of the following words therefor:-

(a)       regrets that Labour politicians still refuse to accept responsibility for the massive budget deficit they created;

(b)       laments the previous Government, who increased the national deficit year-on-year from 2001 onwards, reaching a total of £43 billion prior to the economic crash;

(c)        is pleased that Liberal Democrats took the responsible decision in 2010 to enter Government and help clear up the previous Government’s mess;

(d)       understands that the Labour Party leadership have now returned from the economic wilderness and accepted that they will need to work within the Government’s revenue spending plans;

(e)       therefore, believes that Labour politicians are acting in a hypocritical way by campaigning against cuts, which they have no intention of reversing;

(f)        regrets that repairing the nation’s finances has resulted in difficult decisions across all levels of public spending, especially local government, and shares concerns about the financial challenges facing local government;

(g)       however, highlights that reducing the level of cuts for local government would mean reductions in spending in other areas, such as health, education or welfare;

(h)       furthermore, believes spending decisions for Sheffield City Council would be easier if the Administration did not continue to waste local taxpayers’ money on political vanity projects; and

(i)         therefore, calls on the Administration to eliminate wasteful spending to ensure vital front-line services can be protected.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was negatived.

It was then moved by Councillor Bryan Lodge, seconded by Councillor Jack Scott, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.         the relettering of paragraph (e) as a new paragraph (f);  and

2.         the addition of a new paragraph (e) as follows:-

(e)     regrets that the Comprehensive Spending Review completely disregarded the warnings of local leaders and produced more of the same with local government earmarked for one of the highest levels of reductions and Sir Merrick Cockell, Chairman of the Local Government Association, said the cut would "stretch essential services to breaking point in many areas".

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

After a right of reply by Councillor Julie Dore, the original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-

RESOLVED:  That this Council:-

(a)       fully supports the open letter signed by 151 Council Leaders from all political parties to the Chancellor of the Exchequer expressing concerns that further cuts to local government in the next spending review would have a devastating impact on services;

(b)       recalls comments from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, The Rt. Hon. Danny Alexander MP, that local government has "borne the brunt of deficit reduction”, noting that Council funding from central government will have been cut by 33 per cent since this Government came into power and in comparison Whitehall departments will have faced average reductions of 12 per cent;

(c)        agrees with the letter that local government bore the brunt of cuts in the last spending review and for the sake of the public it cannot afford to do so again;

(d)       believes it would be bad for the country, bad for people and bad for our prospects of economic recovery if funding for local services is cut further; and

(e)       regrets that the Comprehensive Spending Review completely disregarded the warnings of local leaders and produced more of the same with local government earmarked for one of the highest levels of reductions and Sir Merrick Cockell, Chairman of the Local Government Association, said the cut would "stretch essential services to breaking point in many areas".

(f)        urges the Government to listen to the Local Government Association letter and also to reconsider the distribution of cuts which has resulted in heavy cuts to Sheffield whilst some councils in the wealthiest parts of the country receive almost no cuts at all.