Council leader's fury over Government cuts (From Wirral Globe)
Send us news by text, start your message Globe News and your send photos and videos to 80360
Council leader's fury over Government cuts
12:50pm Friday 1st February 2013 in News By Geoff Barnes
Council leader's fury over Government cuts
COUNCIL leader Phil Davies has reacted with fury over government measures which hit Wirral with local authority cuts greater than at any comparable authority in the country.
Figures released by the Special Interest Group of Metropolitan Authorities – representing authorities outside London – indicate that cash-starved Wirral’s spending power has been reduced by 2.62% - more than anywhere else.
This represents a reduction of £151 per resident.
In comparison cuts imposed on north Devon amount to just £2 per resident.
Cllr Davies confessed to being mystified by the government decision.
He said: "I have seen the league table produced by SIGOMA and it is very clear that we have the highest cut out of more than 40 local authorities.
This is extremely unfair and it vindicates our belief that we have been badly treated.
"We have been banging on about this for a while. We accept cuts have to be made, but it is the lack of fairness we object to – it is so blatantly political.
"If you look at a map of the country you see that Tory-led authorities have come off fairly lightly. But northern authorities which suffer the highest deprivation have suffered most.
"It is scandalous the way that political bias has been used in this way. The larger northern metropolitan authorities are being clobbered compared to Conservative-controlled southern councils."
Other regional local authorities which have seen a drop in spending power include Warrington with a a decrease of 2.15%, Knowsley at 1.86% and Liverpool at 1.84%.
Cllr Davies recently led an all-party delegation to spell out Wirral’s budget challenge to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Nick Boles.
Council leaders are hoping the government will extend council borrowing powers to help ease the economic squeeze.
Wirral Council is facing a huge £109m budget gap over the next three years.
Crunch decisions will have to be made within the coming weeks on where the axe will fall.
Comments(7)
Hugo1008
says...
2:21pm Fri 1 Feb 13
Terrible incidents of bad judgement, misinformation, and numerous other incidents that have shamed and reduced Wirral Borough Council to a tragic laughing stock, earning the title of the worst managed local authority in the land.
I am disgusted that this so called administration has the effrontery to be associated with the Labour Party, that I have been a member of for many years, but never again.
I want to see some proper investigation of this administration, to reveal some Truth, Honesty, Open, Clean, Fair Governance within Wirral Council, not Party Political claptrap from a bunch of useless parasites.
PaulCa
says...
2:53pm Fri 1 Feb 13
He's in a very privileged position, being able to draw a heavy blanket across the corruption that's gone on - with the ongoing assistance of the LGA 'improvement' board - who've been massaging the minutes of their public meetings - and haven't even mentioned the word 'accountability' as part of their processes.
If honesty and integrity were to play any part, the central government heavy mob would have descended on this place a long time ago.
Still, we can be hopeful that Pickles will get fed up of the dumb posturing and do the decent thing. It'll be our turn to get all mystified then - when we see exactly the depths of malpractice and abuse to which they've sunk.
ginger26
says...
6:33pm Fri 1 Feb 13
People of Wirral by the time you next vote you will be stuffed...use your vote wisely in future .
MDRyUK
says...
3:15am Sat 2 Feb 13
Not good for local government. Not good in terms of effective responsibility/accou
ntability. Not good in terms of democracy. And certainly not good for all the GOOD people of Wirral who put simply just want to get on with the rest of our lives.
Note that word APATHY ..... seems to me it's ringing very loudly at the minute. So, loud alarms bells should be going off at the Town Hall, Brighton Street, Wallasey, Wirral CH44 8ED.
Keep smiling everybody :-)
LocaLGovwatcher
says...
10:30am Sat 2 Feb 13
Positive thinker
says...
6:51pm Sat 2 Feb 13
WirralAl says...
2:04pm Fri 1 Feb 13
If you had not wasted so much the savings now would be easier.