In a letter published in last weekend's Observer, the Chairman of the Local Government Association makes a strong plea for the government to suspend its programme of reductions in funding of local government. Councillor David Sparks writes that "Local authorities have made £20bn savings since 2010 following reductions in government funding of 40%. Councils have worked hard to shield residents from the impact. However, efficiencies cannot be remade or buildings resold. Further local government funding reductions over the next five years is not an option." He adds that the government "must consider the consequences that further cuts ... will have on the services that bind our communities and protect the most vulnerable."
Labour-run councils have, of course, been making similar points for the past five years. But the Local Government Association represents 375 councils, the majority of which are now Conservative-controlled and hence disinclined to criticise the new government unless they have particularly good reason.
Enfield is one of the areas where Coalition-government funding reductions were particularly harsh. Most of us will not personally have felt the effects of reductions in staffing levels or of services to the disabled and other disadvantaged people. However, cuts are now becoming more evident. Some of them relate to relatively small amounts of money, but perhaps are being made with the deliberate intention of making it clear to people so far unaffected that services cost money - I'm thinking of the suspension of the Enfield Residents' Priority Fund, the plan to leave parks unlocked at night, and the decision not to contribute towards the cost of Open House 2015.
