Local Government Austerity – A Lib Dem and Tory Policy
Austerity was inflicted on the UK, by the Conservatives with the full support of the Liberal Democrats.
- During the Covid-19 crisis we have been told it is fine to borrow billions of pounds because interest rates are so low.
- Interest rates were just as low in the 2010s
- Yet the Liberal Democrats and Tories colluded in a policy to strangle Local Authority spending.
Austerity was a political choice, not an economic one. From 2010 to 2015 Lib Dem MPs worked hand in hand in Govt. with the Tories to decimate funding for Local Govt.
Here are some numbers:*
- Government funding of Local Authorities has fallen by an average of 33% per person since 2010
- The Council tax we pay now contributes 50% of overall local spend, up from 40% in 2010.
- In the South West, council spend has decreased by 15% per person
Lib Dem and Tory Polices have meant cuts to key services:
- Spend on social care for the over 65s is down 18% – despite a 20% rise in population for this age group
- 57% of councils’ non-education service budgets now go to adults’ and children’s social care services – with per-person spending on other services falling by 40% since 2010
Council Tax bills have increased by 8% in real terms (after inflation).
ALL OF US PAY MORE FOR LESS AS A RESULT OF TORY AND LIB DEM AUSTERITY
Simon O’Rourke, our Gloucestershire County Council Candidate for Tewkesbury states, “The cuts we have seen to local services have been a result of an unholy coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. There is no point either party claiming that they will improve these services given their track record in this area, actions speak louder that hollow promises.”
The Liberal Democrats present themselves as a party supporting local communities, but their record in Government means they they are just as responsible for the cuts to our services as the Tories are.
Only the Labour Party offers genuine change to the ongoing Austerity decimating our Local Services.
Tewkesbury CLP will soon be publishing our policy platform for the County Council elections of 2021. We guarantee a vote for Labour is a vote to grow key services, not cut them.