Councillors: Cuts will hurt local economies
Over 90 Liberal Democrat councillors criticise the coalition’s programme of cuts in a letter to the Times:
“These cuts will have an undoubted impact on all frontline services, including care services to the vulnerable.
“Rather than assist the country’s recovery by making savings to the public in a way that can protect local economies and the front line, the cuts are structured in such a way that they will do the opposite.
“What has been delivered is a difficult cuts package across all government departments but clearly the most severe is to local government.
“The secretary of state’s role should be to facilitate necessary savings while promoting the advance of localism and the ‘big society’.
“Unfortunately, Eric Pickles has felt it better to shake a stick at councillors than work with us.
“Instead of chastising and denigrating local authorities through the media, the government should deploy all its effort to help councils minimise the impact on vulnerable communities and front-line services.”
