Newcastle North MP, Catherine McKinnell, today called on the Local Government Minister to stop burying his head in the sand on the impact that disproportionate funding cuts are having on cities like Newcastle.
Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate on the financial sustainability of local government this afternoon (7th January), Catherine reminded the Minister that it is almost a year to the day since she secured a Commons debate on the effects of cuts on Newcastle City Council (8th January 2013), and criticised his complacent response to concerns expressed since about the gravity of the financial situation now facing many councils in some of the most deprived parts of the country.
Catherine said: ‘I have lost count of the number of times I have raised with this Minister, and others, the impact of his Government’s disproportionate cuts on cities like Newcastle – yet he has simply continued to bury his head in the sand about the scale of the challenges we are consequently facing.
Catherine went on to outline that the scale of the funding gap facing Newcastle City Council has now risen to £108million over three years, and questioned the Minister’s continued comparison of Newcastle’s ‘spending power’ with places like Wokingham and Maidenhead, commenting:
‘This measure is absolutely meaningless if used to simplistically compare total spending power, without also having an understanding of the completely different spending pressures facing cities like Newcastle, and those in parts of the country with totally different needs and challenges to support. And what the Minister repeatedly fails to mention is the scale of the change in spending power over the next two years.
‘Whilst Newcastle may have a higher total spending power than certain parts of the country, it is facing a cut in this spending power of £232 per dwelling over the next two years. In sharp contrast, Wokingham – which the Minister often likes to quote – will see its spending power rise by £60 per dwelling, and Windsor & Maidenhead’s will rise by £32 per dwelling. So, whilst the spending power of cities like Newcastle is being significantly cut, that of some of the wealthiest and least deprived areas of the country is not only being protected, but increased, under this Government.’
Speaking after the debate, Catherine stated:
‘The Minister’s totally complacent and out of touch response to this afternoon’s debate was very disappointing, but unsurprising.
‘The straight fact is that the additional spending power of cities like Newcastle has not originated from some unfair funding decision of the past, but reflects the very real differences in spending pressures and, in particular, differences in need to provide statutory services. Newcastle, as an urban and relatively deprived city, faces significantly greater spending pressures than other parts of the country, but the Coalition seems totally incapable of grasping this fact.’
‘Even the Tory Chair of the Local Government Association has warned about the future viability of many local councils, but the Minister seems to think if he sticks his fingers in his ears and sings loudly enough the problem will go away. It won’t, and it will be people in cities like Newcastle that will pay the price.’
You can read the full transcript of Catherine’s speech here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140107/halltext/140107h0002.htm#14010755000220