Flint: Back-office savings won’t be enough

Shadow communities and local government secretary Caroline Flint comments on a report doubting councils’ ability to make substantial back-office savings:

“This report shows the Tory-led government has been misleading people when they claim all councils have to do to protect jobs and frontline services is make backroom savings.

“The government’s decision to hit councils with cuts that are too deep and too fast mean even the most optimistic backroom saving projections won’t be enough to prevent local jobs being lost and cutbacks to services like children’s centres, bin collection, road maintenance, social care and libraries.

“And the way the government has chosen to hit town halls with frontloaded cuts, rather than spreading them out over four years, makes it even harder for councils to plan efficiency savings properly.”