Demand for local voice in Whitehall efficiency group
Author: Local Government Chronicle |
Senior local government figures have pledged to act to avert the threat of the sector being sidelined in the debate over how the state will secure future efficiency savings.
Chancellor George Osborne confirmed that £6.25bn will be cut from public expenditure this year. He also revealed that a Treasury-Cabinet Office ‘efficiency and reform group’ would be set up to make sure the savings were made. However, it will only be comprised of ministers and Whitehall civil servants.
Richard Kemp, leader of the Local Government Association’s Liberal Democrat group, said he would be pushing for a council leader and/or a chief executive to be included on the group.
“I’m seeking a meeting with [chief secretary to the Treasury] David Laws and hope to raise the matter,” he said. “A council leader and chief executive [would be valuable] because they’ve experience of running services.”
The LGA has argued for efficiency savings to be found by reshaping the local state, and local government’s exclusion from the efficiency and reform group stands in contrast to the central role councils played in the Total Place programme – a programme over which the new government has yet to make a statement.
Kent CC and Bradford MBC are compiling a letter to communities secretary Eric Pickles to outline how the sector would like to see the programme progress.
Meanwhile, Institute for Government executive director Lord Bichard told a conference that he was hopeful the thrust of Total Place would continue, even if it were re-branded.
Lord Bichard said: “I don’t think that Total Place itself as a brand will survive but I am not sure that is important.” He added that there “are causes to be optimistic” about the government’s devolutionary agenda.
There was immediate confusion over which grants would be axed to make up local government’s £1.165bn share of the £6.25bn cuts. The Treasury revealed which departments the axed grants would come from, but said the Department for Communities & Local Government would lead a short consultation on the individual grants that would be affected.
DCLG grants will account for £362m, which could come from a range of streams, including the private sector renewal grant and the working neighbourhoods funds.
A further £309m will come from Department for Transport grants, £311m from Department for Education grants, £8m from the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs, with the remaining £175m coming from Treasury grants that are administered by DCLG.
Mr Osborne did confirm that £1.7bn of central government funding for councils this year would have its ring fence removed to compensate for the grant cuts.
The Treasury was unable to confirm which funding streams would be affected but emphasised this should not be confused with the £1.3bn of non-ring-fenced funding announced in the March Budget, which was to come into effect next year.