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Portsmouth MP joins call on PM to leave ‘parting gift’ for children’s services

By 19 June 2019September 8th, 2022No Comments

Stephen Morgan MP and sixty-five MPs and councillors – representing areas that have faced some of the deepest cuts to local government funding in the country – have backed a call and signed a letter to the Prime Minister calling for urgent investment in young people.

The letter – which was hand-delivered to Downing Street today and signed by MPs and councillors from across England – claimed those from disadvantaged backgrounds in particular were paying a heavy price for austerity and demanded that Theresa May use her last weeks in office to leave a parting gift for children’s services.

Spearheaded by the interest group SIGOMA the action has the support of Shadow Communities Secretary Andrew Gwynne MP along with a number of opposition MPs.

Signatories are urging the Prime Minister to address the £8bn funding gap which councils continue to face by 2025, and to use her remaining time in office to deliver a parting gift aimed at supporting social mobility, which Theresa May has been reportedly considering.

MPs from SIGOMA areas represent some of the most deprived communities in the UK. In these constituencies, the effect of cuts to council services has meant many councils have had no choice but to cut services at every level, including libraries, youth services and community centres.

Stephen Morgan MP, Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South, said:

“Local councils, like our own, are on the frontline of government, delivering the services which people rely on and which both support and enrich our communities on a day-to-day basis.

By 2020, local authorities will have faced a reduction to core funding from the Government of nearly £16 billion since 2010. That means that councils will have lost 60 pence out of every £1 the Government had provided to spend on local services. Next year, 168 councils will receive no more core central government funding at all.

This is having a drastic impact on local government services across the country, and in our city of Portsmouth.

It was important to sign this letter with colleagues in response to concerns being raised with me about the wider pressure that central government is putting on local councils to deliver vital services without adequate funding, as a result of cuts.

By working together with other parliamentarians and councillors, I hope the Prime Minister will finally recognise that the Tories’ cuts to local government are deeply unfair and takes action”.

Cllr Sir Stephen Houghton CBE, Chair of SIGOMA, the voice of England’s towns and cities added:

“The cuts have been unfairly applied to local government for years, with those representing the poorest communities facing cuts twice as deep as those serving the most affluent areas.

We are marching to Downing Street today to highlight the severe impacts austerity is having on some of the most vulnerable in society, taking opportunities away from those that need them most. We urge the Prime Minister to use her remaining time in office to leave a parting gift of £3.1bn to plug the existing funding gap in children’s services and to give council leaders the flexibility to invest in social mobility. Young people must no longer pay the price for austerity and now is the time to cut the cuts.

This cause has attracted support from around the country. Week after week this year we have heard stories and reports about the impact of deprivation on the life chances of young people.

The Prime Minister has the chance to be remembered for something other than the divisive topic of Brexit but she must act now.”

MPs from SIGOMA areas represent some of the most deprived communities in the UK. In these constituencies, the effect of cuts to council services has meant many councils have had no choice but to cut services at every level, including libraries, youth services and community centres.

The Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities is the voice of England’s towns and cities, representing 47 Unitary councils and Metropolitan Boroughs outside London.