Hackney Mayor slams ‘relentless attack’ as council’s budget slashed

Hackney’s elected mayor, Jules Pipe. Photograph: Hackney Council

Hackney will be one of the London boroughs hardest hit by the government’s next round of funding cuts to local authorities, according to new figures.

The Local Government Finance Settlement, announced by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) sets out an overall 1.8 per cent reduction in funding to local authorities across England.

Across all London boroughs, Hackney will see the highest reduction in funding with a 6.3 per cent decrease.

The neighbouring boroughs of Haringey, Tower Hamlets and Newham have also been hard hit with cuts of 5.4 per cent, 5.0 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively.

Hackney’s Mayor Jules Pipe said that over £100 million had been slashed from the council’s budget in what he described as a “relentless attack” on local services.

Local Government minister Kris Hopkins has insisted that the reductions are “fair to all parts of the country” and that no authority would face cuts of more than 6.4 per cent.

Mr Hopkins said: “Councils facing the highest demand for services continue to receive substantially more funding and we are continuing to ensure that no council will face a loss of more than 6.4% in their spending power in 2015 to 2016 – the lowest level in this Parliament.”

But the Local Government Association (LGA) has argued that the cuts in central government grants amount to 8.8 per cent, and warned that local authorities will be forced to slice an estimated £2.6 billion off their budgets in 2015 – 2016.

LGA chair David Sparks said: “Today’s settlement confirms the huge financial challenge local services now face. Councils have spent the past four years finding billions of pounds worth of savings, while working hard to protect the services upon which people rely.

“But those same efficiency savings cannot be made again. The savings of more than £2.5 billion councils need to find before April will be the most difficult yet.

“We cannot pretend that this will not have an impact on local government’s ability to improve people’s quality of life and support local businesses.”

Mayor Jules Pipe said: “The latest cuts to council budgets have not come as a surprise, as the Government continues its relentless attack on local services.

“Against these unprecedented cuts – which have seen more than £100m removed from our budget – I’m pleased that we’ve been able to protect frontline services in Hackney, but clearly that is going to become more challenging in the years ahead, with difficult decisions needing to be made.

“However, we’ll continue to do all we can to protect the services our residents rely on and those which they value most.”

Cllr Jonathan McShane, Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Culture, has called the government’s decision to cut Hackney’s funding “completely indefensible”.

Government cuts to councils. Hackney gets biggest cut in London whilst Richmond upon Thames gets a rise. Completely indefensible.

— Jonathan McShane (@jonathanmcshane) December 19, 2014