Presented by Cllr Bob Purser
“Local government in England has been hollowed out since 2010 - How 12 years of Conservative Government has affected West Northamptonshire Communities.
The Institute for Government this year concluded that a decade of cuts to council budgets saw cuts hit deprived areas the hardest, and demand rise for services that are more difficult to access.
Visibly this has meant fewer Libraries, dirtier streets, more potholes, bigger class sizes and fewer accessible bus routes. Below the surface it has meant greater inequality, lower life expectancy, more children in poverty, higher rents, more crime and now larger mortgages
This is the impact of cuts across the board - health, policing, fire, education, housing and local government. West Northamptonshire must not face any more”
Minutes:
Councillor Purser stated that the damage done to local governments by 12 years of Conservative government made people poorer and contributed to the Council’s financial problems and noted that grants to local authorities had been reduced by £19 billion in the last 10 years, with dire implications for services. Cuts were counterproductive, leading to reduced preventative services and more costly statutory interventions. He proposed that the Leader and Deputy Leader have an urgent meeting with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to set out the case that there must be no more cuts to local government funding, and that the funding settlement must reflect pressures that the Council faced, particularly in Adults and Children’s Services. Councillor Purser noted that in October, the government promised £500 million to support social care and questioned when the announcement would be made. He stated that social care was understaffed, underpaid and under-supported, which had led to a significant increase in demand for Children’s Services; there was a pressing need to build back preventative services. School funding should also be reinstated. Reductions in bus subsidies and services, use, mileage, were destroying the green agenda ambition. IN respect of housing, young people had been priced out of the housing market which had caused an increase in homelessness. Highways funding had seen a 27% real terms cut. Councillor Purser asked the administration to reassure Council that it had learned lessons from its predecessors and assure Members that the Leader and Deputy Leader would meet with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ensure that funding kept up with inflation, which the LGA calculated would cost around £8 billion across the country.
Councillor Nunn responded and questioned why the opposition group did not use the time under this item to highlight where they may have legal, costed alternatives to the administration’s approach on any area. He advised that the Council was in regular contact with the government and continually lobbied for funding, and noted that some funding had been forthcoming, including flexibility in using capital receipts for local government reform, business rates retention, the social housing decarbonisation fund, rough sleeper funding, regeneration funding from Future High Streets Fund, funding for arts venues, the Household Support Grant, and the Levelling Up Fund. Councillor Nunn stated that the next few years would be tough but assured Council that the administration was delivering. Some recent successful projects included the Daventry Arc Cinema, the Reach for Health Centre, hosting women’s cycle tournament, the recently opened Northampton cycle park, the Flore bypass, and the additional SEND school, as well as 4 existing schools being extended. Councillor Nunn also noted that several hundred social houses had been built by WNC since its creation.
Councillor Randall stated that many West Northamptonshire residents will not have noticed their lives improving over the last decade. School budgets had been decimated causing rising class sizes. The Fire Service implored the former NCC at a meeting not to cut their budget and gave a warning that should their budget be cut further, they would be operating unsafely. Councillor Randall further stated that people could not access GPs and that people could be seen queueing in tents outside of A&E departments. She highlighted the national care worker shortage following the pandemic and noted that many had opted to work in factories because factory work paid more. She advised that people in full-time employment were forced to use food banks and stated that the 4 Northamptonshire MPs should be doing more in Parliament to represent their constituents.