Agenda item

Motions on notice submitted in line with the Council's Constitution

Minutes:

As an amendment to the motion had been received, it was proposed, seconded and agreed that the Council Procedure Rules be temporarily suspended to allow for one debate to take place.

 

Motion by Councillor R B Parker

 

It was moved and seconded that:

 

We note that many council budgets up and down the country are now at Breaking Point. 'Austerity' has caused damage to communities up and down the UK including here in Lincolnshire, with obvious negative effects on key public services that should protect and enhance the lives of a whole range of local people.  In short, council services or support to local organisations which were a part of life have been abandoned or reduced and communities have suffered.

According to figures produced by our own County Treasurer's Department, in 2011/12 Lincolnshire County Council received £211m in government support through the revenue support grant.

Each subsequent year the level of grant received has fallen and in the current year, 2018/19, we received £34m.

During this eight-year period the County Council has lost a cumulative total of £962m compared to what we would have received if the 2011/12 revenue support grant levels had been maintained and inflated each year.

The Government have, however, given the Council some additional funding for Better Care Fund, New Homes Bonus, Rural Services Delivery Grant and Council Tax Freeze grant, this additional support totals £217m over the same period of time. Therefore the Council has in effect lost £745m that could have been spent on services or reduced the increase in council tax. This is an average reduction of £93m per year.

Not only have we had this reduction in government funding we have also had to fund a number of unavoidable cost pressures, therefore, the Council has had to implement a number of strategies to bridge the gap. Council tax has been increased since 2015/16, savings/reductions have been made to budgets totalling £311m over the eight years and we have had to use our reserves, £117m, where these weren't enough.

That is what Austerity has meant to Lincolnshire people and no services have been left untouched whether Adults, Children, Highways, Heritage or Fire Services.

Councils across the country now face a further funding gap of £7.8 billion by 2025 just to keep services ‘standing still’ and meeting additional demand. In particular, adult social care as a result of an ageing population and growing demand faces a gap of £3.5 billion. Lord Gary Porter, the Conservative Chair of the Local Government Association, has said ‘‘Councils can no longer be expected to run our vital local services on a shoestring’

Given that reality, we challenge the comments of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss for stating on BBC Newsnight on 1st October 2018 that the government is “not making cuts to local authorities”, when all independent assessments of government spending show that this is false; and we also challenge the claims of the Prime Minister Theresa May that “austerity is over” despite her government planning a further £1.3bn of cuts to council budgets over the next year

We call onthe Prime Minister and Chancellor to truly end austerity in local government by:

       Reversing next years planned £1.3bn cut to council budgets;

       Immediately investing nationally  £2bn in children’s services and £2bn in adult social care to stop these vital emergency services from collapsing;

       Pledging to use the Spending Review to restore council funding to 2010 levels over the next four years

 

We therefore move that:

This Council asks the Leader of the Council to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Prime Minister, and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government setting out the funding pressures faced by our local council, and calling on the Government to truly end austerity in local government.

 

An amendment was proposed and seconded as follows:

 

We note that many council budgets up and down the country are now at Breaking Point. 'Austerity' has caused damage to communities up and down the UK including here in Lincolnshire, with obvious negative effects on key public services that should protect and enhance the lives of a whole range of local people.  In short, council services or support to local organisations which were a part of life have been abandoned or reduced and communities have suffered.

According to figures produced by our own County Treasurer's Department, in 2011/12 Lincolnshire County Council received £211m in government support through the revenue support grant.

Each subsequent year the level of grant received has fallen and in the current year, 2018/19, we received £34m.

During this eight-year period the County Council has lost a cumulative total of £962m compared to what we would have received if the 2011/12 revenue support grant  levels had been maintained and inflated each year.

The Government have, however, given the Council some additional funding for Better Care Fund, New Homes Bonus, Rural Services Delivery Grant and Council Tax Freeze grant, this additional support totals £217m over the same period of time. Therefore the Council has in effect lost £745m that could have been spent on services or reduced the increase in council tax. This is an average reduction of £93m per year.

Not only have we had this reduction in government funding we have also had to fund a number of unavoidable cost pressures, therefore, the Council has had to implement a number of strategies to bridge the gap. Council tax has been increased since 2015/16, savings/reductions have been made to budgets totalling £311m over the eight years and we have had to use our reserves, £117m, where these weren't enough.

That is what Austerity has mean to Lincolnshire people and no services have been left untouched whether Adults, Children, Highways, Heritage or Fire Services.

Councils across the country now face a further funding gap of £7.8 billion by 2025 just to keep services ‘standing still’ and meeting additional demand. In particular, adult social care as a result of an ageing population and growing demand faces a gap of £3.5 billion. Lord Gary Porter, the Conservative Chair of the Local Government Association, has said ‘‘Councils can no longer be expected to run our vital local services on a shoestring’

Given that reality, we challenge the comments of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss for stating on BBC Newsnight on 1st October 2018 that the government is “not making cuts to local authorities”, when all independent assessments of government spending show that this is false;

 

However we note additional one-off spending in previous years.

 

We therefore move that:

 

This Council asks the Leader of the Council to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Prime Minister, and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government setting out the funding pressures faced by our local council, and calling on the Government to address the situation through the Fairer Funding, Adult Social Care and Local Government funding reviews next year.

 

 

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

 

The amendment became the substantive motion, and upon being put to the vote was agreed unanimously.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That this Council asks the Leader of the Council to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Prime Minister, and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government setting out the funding pressures faced by our local council, and calling on the Government to address the situation through the Fairer Funding, Adult Social Care and Local Government funding reviews next year.

 

 

 
 
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