Responding to the delayed Government’s announcement on funding for local councils, Stephen Morgan, Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South said:
“Local Government desperately needs investment in under-pressure local services and especially in children’s and adult social care.
Only this week the Lib Dem council here in Portsmouth agreed £4m of cuts to local services, with more to follow.
Next year will continue to be hugely challenging for Portsmouth and all councils who will still face an overall funding gap of £3.2bn in 2019/20.
It is disappointing that the Government has not used the Secretary of State’s announcement today to provide further desperately-needed resources for Portsmouth, meaning many more tough decisions, services scaled back and communities hit hard.
As the nation faces huge uncertainty, we need a Government which will listen and will recognise the valuable role councils make to communities by properly funding the local services we all rely on”.