City MP Stephen Morgan has said the Conservatives have pushed local councils to the brink of financial ruin after a new report found that Portsmouth has seen a £65 million real terms funding cut since 2010.
The report by The Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities (SIGOMA) found that in the past 14 years local government funding for Portsmouth has been cut in real terms by 23.7% – the equivalent of £696 per household.
Since 2010-11, councils have been subjected to steep funding cuts, which has required them to make cuts to the services they provide and transform the way they provide them.
New analysis by the Labour Party also found that the council tax bill is set to top £57 billion under the Conservatives, more than double than under the last Labour government.
The analysis of details hidden in the government’s Autumn Statement, reveals that council tax bills under the Tories are set to rise by almost £13 billion over the next five years.
A growing number of councils have publicly expressed their financial difficulty over the past 12 months.
Mr Morgan said that councils across the country and the people who use their services are paying the price after a decade of Tory mismanagement, with cuts being made to vital youth services, housing and social care budgets.
The City MP said the recent emergency hand-out by the government for local government was nothing more than a sticking plaster and was an admission of the failure of the Conservatives to find a sustainable way to fund local services.
The report by SIGOMA also found that Portsmouth saw a reduction in the Services Grant of £1.7m and received £0 from the Funding Guarantee or Rural Services Delivery Grant at the provisional settlement.
Commenting, Portsmouth MP Stephen Morgan said:
“Councils across the country are paying the price after a decade of Tory mismanagement, and Portsmouth is no different, with the cuts we’ve seen over the years to the services we all rely on. Portsmouth people are sick and tired of paying more, but getting less.
“The government’s recent emergency handout is nothing more than a sticking plaster and is an admission of failure from the Tories that their approach over the past decade has failed.
“After 14 years of Conservative economic failure, local government and local communities need the stability that only a Labour government can deliver with our long-term ambition for multi-year funding settlements underpinned by strong accountability.”
