Coronavirus: English councils might resort to ‘excessive cost-cutting’

Native councils in England are “extraordinarily involved” they won’t get extra funding to deal with coronavirus.

The Native Authorities Affiliation’s Richard Watts has written to Native Authorities Secretary Robert Jenrick warning of “excessive cost-cutting”.

In his letter, obtained by the BBC, Mr Watts appeals for a assure the federal government is “nonetheless keen to do no matter it takes” to assist them.

An additional £1.6bn has been given to native authorities because the outbreak started.

A spokesman from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Native Authorities mentioned Mr Jenrick had “been clear that [they] will help councils to offer companies to their communities throughout the pandemic”.

Councils face elevated prices from supporting weak individuals, whereas their earnings from charges and charges is falling.

Mr Watts – the LGA’s useful resource chairman – started his letter by thanking the minister for his “laborious work on behalf of native authorities”, and mentioned measures, together with the £1.6bn funding and deferral of enterprise charges funds, had been “useful in offering some stability and certainty”.

However he mentioned the money was an “inadequate sum” and members of the LGA had heard from the division that “additional funding is probably not forthcoming regardless of earlier guarantees”.

He wrote: “That is having an actual impression on councils’ confidence that they are going to be given the monetary means to see this problem by and will trigger some to take excessive cost-cutting and rationing measures.”

Mr Watts mentioned he had seen proof some social care authorities had already dedicated as much as 3 times extra spending than the grant allocation permits as a result of they anticipated further funding, and the money put ahead already was “vanishingly small” in comparison with what they’re needing to spend on elevated homelessness.

He additionally claimed finance administrators from the councils have been holding off issuing studies that present they’re “spending past [their] means” due to guarantees of additional funding.

Mr Watts mentioned there have been pressures that may transcend the coronavirus outbreak too, akin to an elevated demand in social care and council tax help.

He mentioned the “earnings base is collapsing” for councils, with leisure centres shut, public transport lower and parking charges not coming in, in addition to decrease enterprise charges being collected.

“This lack of earnings represents an actual discount within the sources out there to councils to fund companies and can imply that, within the absence of any compensation, the balanced budgets set by councils is not going to be deliverable,” wrote Mr Watts.

He mentioned the “level of focus” for the federal government must be guaranteeing native authorities have “confidence that the federal government will help them”.

Mr Watts concluded his letter, saying: “We want urge you and the Chancellor of the Exchequer to set out in a transparent joint letter of intent that the federal government continues to be keen to do no matter it takes and supply additional funding to councils up entrance.”

And he known as for a “dedication to compensate [councils] absolutely for prices, internet lack of earnings and financial savings that can’t be delivered as results of this disaster, in order that they’ll proceed to deal with delivering the response to the best problem the UK and the world have seen in many years, versus worrying about whether or not they should begin rationing as a result of no additional help could be forthcoming”.

The federal government has beforehand mentioned it might hold funding for native councils below overview.