Agenda item

This Council believes the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Governments made the wrong political choice to cut the council’s core grant funding by £214m since 2010 with £100m still to be taken away from the Council’s budget.  Council is pleased to note the Chancellor of the Exchequer who presided over the last six years of austerity is no longer in post.

Council notes that the Government's decision to impose such a sustained and counterproductive period of austerity had an unfair and damaging impact on the city and the effects have been felt hardest by our most deprived and vulnerable residents in Leeds, with 14,000 more people in the city now living in deprivation compared to 2010. 

Council further notes that had Leeds received the same level of government funding per person as Wokingham in Berkshire, the council with the lowest levels of cuts, we would have an additional £100 million per annum in our budget.

Council calls on the new Chancellor of the Exchequer to ensure the council receives a much needed increase in core grant funding through a fair funding allocation to take account of deprivation and need. This should include the direct reallocation of funding repatriated from the European Union to local councils to tackle poverty and deprivation and support economic growth. 

Council further calls for HM Treasury to agree to allow councils to delay making a decision on whether or not to accept a four year funding settlement until after the Autumn Statement has been delivered.

It was moved by Councillor James Lewis, seconded by Councillor Coupar that this Council believes the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Governments made the wrong political choice to cut the council’s core grant funding by £214m since 2010 with £100m still to be taken away from the Council’s budget.  Council is pleased to note the Chancellor of the Exchequer who presided over the last six years of austerity is no longer in post.

Council notes that the Government's decision to impose such a sustained and counterproductive period of austerity had an unfair and damaging impact on the city and the effects have been felt hardest by our most deprived and vulnerable residents in Leeds, with 14,000 more people in the city now living in deprivation compared to 2010. 

Council further notes that had Leeds received the same level of government funding per person as Wokingham in Berkshire, the council with the lowest levels of cuts, we would have an additional £100 million per annum in our budget.

Council calls on the new Chancellor of the Exchequer to ensure the council receives a much needed increase in core grant funding through a fair funding allocation to take account of deprivation and need. This should include the direct reallocation of funding repatriated from the European Union to local councils to tackle poverty and deprivation and support economic growth. 

Council further calls for HM Treasury to agree to allow councils to delay making a decision on whether or not to accept a four year funding settlement until after the Autumn Statement has been delivered.

An amendment was moved by Councillor Golton, seconded by Councillor Campbell :

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Council notes that all parties agreed on the need for extensive cuts to services to stabilise public finances before the 2010 election, with Alistair Darling pledging to impose budget cuts deeper and tougher than those of Margaret Thatcher, but regrets the government’s counter-productive and ideologically driven pursuit of a budget surplus from 2015 onwards.

Council further notes the economic uncertainty created by the EU referendum and calls on the government to clarify how it will ensure that local government funding reform provides a stable platform on which services can flourish.

Council restates the conclusion of the Commission for Local Government that councils must respond to the challenge of funding cuts by empowering individuals, communities and the third sector to pioneer more efficient, locally focussed service delivery.

A second amendment was moved by Councillor Andrew Carter, seconded by Councillor J Procter:

Delete all after ‘This Council’ and replace with:

‘notes the efforts of the Joint Administration in Leeds between 2004 and 2010 to ‘narrow the gap’ in the city and is concerned that 14,000 more people now live in deprivation since the current Labour administration assumed control in Leeds in 2010.

Council recognises the difficult position that public finances were in in 2010 and believes that measures introduced by the Government to bring the budget deficit and public spending under control were unfortunate but necessary given the legacy left by the Labour Government.

Despite this Council accepts that budget reductions have been significant. As in previous debates this Council acknowledges that Leeds has received unfair funding settlements from all Governments in recent years and agrees that a new relationship between local and central government should be formed to take into account funding and in particular delivering a fairer funding settlement for Leeds.

Council further notes the tendency of the current administration to focus on apportioning blame to central government rather than looking towards solutions that Leeds itself can deliver.

Council calls for HM Treasury to agree to allow councils to delay making a decision on whether or not to accept a four year funding settlement until after the Autumn Statement has been delivered and reiterates its call for a Royal Commission on the future of local government finance.’

The amendments in the name of Councillors Golton and Andrew Carter were declared lost and upon being put to the vote it was

RESOLVED – That this Council believes the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Governments made the wrong political choice to cut the council’s core grant funding by £214m since 2010 with £100m still to be taken away from the Council’s budget.  Council is pleased to note the Chancellor of the Exchequer who presided over the last six years of austerity is no longer in post.

Council notes that the Government's decision to impose such a sustained and counterproductive period of austerity had an unfair and damaging impact on the city and the effects have been felt hardest by our most deprived and vulnerable residents in Leeds, with 14,000 more people in the city now living in deprivation compared to 2010. 

Council further notes that had Leeds received the same level of government funding per person as Wokingham in Berkshire, the council with the lowest levels of cuts, we would have an additional £100 million per annum in our budget.

Council calls on the new Chancellor of the Exchequer to ensure the council receives a much needed increase in core grant funding through a fair funding allocation to take account of deprivation and need. This should include the direct reallocation of funding repatriated from the European Union to local councils to tackle poverty and deprivation and support economic growth. 

Council further calls for HM Treasury to agree to allow councils to delay making a decision on whether or not to accept a four year funding settlement until after the Autumn Statement has been delivered.