The Prime Minister has spoken about re-wiring the state, devolving power to communities and tackling big challenges, like ending rough sleeping and fixing the broken adult social care system.
The Government itself also spoke about tackling the ‘broken funding system’ for councils just last month.
Cllr Martin Abrams, the Leader of Lambeth Council, said: “The Government cannot hope to succeed in its aims without reversing the deep cuts to local government which have left councils in a short-term cycle of crisis management, when we could be delivering real change for our communities.
“Local government is the bedrock of a thriving society. We are proud to provide hundreds of vital services, from social care to housing, libraries to street cleaning, but the government has put all of these at risk by failing to invest in our communities.
“At the last budget the Chancellor actually reduced our funding, with a financial cliff-edge in 2029/30 that will see it fall still further. Today, we face a £93million budget black hole that would require deep cuts to essential services unless the Chancellor changes course.”
Lambeth Council is calling on the Chancellor to take three urgent actions at this budget:
1.Reverse austerity, with a clear plan to progressively restore funding cuts which have seen us lose 30% in real terms funding since 2010
2. Radically reform the system of Exceptional Financial Support, which sees councils hooked to ‘pay-day loan’ terms for funding required to cover the massive rise in costs of statutory services. As part of this, immediately pause all debt repayments to give us space to invest in prevention and reform
3. Extend the transitional protection period beyond the current settlement and lift the arbitrary cost recovery cap which has penalised just four councils in the current funding settlement, at a cost of £47million to Lambeth. Massive to our community, a relatively small figure in the context of a £1.2trillion national budget.
The cost of housing homeless families has tripled
Cllr Abrams said: “If the Chancellor takes these steps now, he will save the public money in the long-term, because austerity and privatisation have simply shifted costs from prevention to crisis response.
“The failure to invest in housing means Lambeth now has a £100million a year bill for temporary accommodation – that’s tripled since 2021. In Children’s Social Care, profiteering by care providers sees Lambeth and other councils pay as much as £10,000 a week for a single complex placement.
“In a summer of unprecedent heat, many of our streets flowed with water as Thames Water’s creaking network literally burst at the seams.
“If the Chancellor invests in local communities at this budget, he will see the benefits in the short and long term.
“Across the government’s key priorities, councils are at the centre – adult social care, youth unemployment, rough sleeping, the housing crisis – these are all issues which cannot be solved if councils are locked in survival mode.
“The Autumn Budget presents an opportunity for Government to work with councils to build a sustainable future for local government rather than continuing a cycle of short-term crisis management.”
Essential services
Residents, communities and councils are united in calling for investment in the services people rely on every day. More than 120 people joined a town hall meeting in Brixton last week to discuss next steps in the campaign against the cuts in Lambeth under the banner, Services Worth Fighting For.
