Today I joined Lewisham East MP Heidi Alexander in attacking the Government’s proposals to cut Lewisham Council’s funding by up to £77million over the next four years.
The Coalition’s Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, argued that councils would improve transparencies, cut out waste, improve procurement practice, and so on. When I pointed out that Lewisham Council had already made £40million in efficiency savings over the past five years, Mr Pickles argued that job losses were exaggerated and compulsory redundancies could be kept to just 4%. I countered that the recent London Borough of Lewisham cuts cost 300 jobs, of which only half could be found by natural wastage, and that by forcing councils to make their biggest cuts in year one the government would make it even more difficult.
The Secretary of State suggested that Lewisham should use its resources of nearly £60million. Later in the debate I revealed that the bulk of Lewisham’s resources were earmarked for capital projects and the general reserve – kept for emergencies – was equivalent to only 2.5% (£11million) of the overall budget. It would be irresponsible to spend ‘emergency’ reserves and would do nothing to deal with cuts of up to £70million.
The Secretary of State suggested that Lewisham should use its resources of nearly £60million. Later in the debate I revealed that the bulk of Lewisham’s resources were earmarked for capital projects and the general reserve – kept for emergencies – was equivalent to only 2.5% (£11million) of the overall budget. It would be irresponsible to spend ‘emergency’ reserves and would do nothing to deal with cuts of up to £70million.
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