COUNCILS HIT HARD

THERE is no shortage of candidates for the title of hardest hit department or service in George Osborne's Comprehensive Spending Review but as the analyses come in it seems likely that elected local councils may have the most to complain about. In his Commons statement Mr Osborne said: “For local government, the deficit means an unavoidably challenging settlement...But to help councils we propose a massive devolution of financial control.” This devolution will give councils the responsibility for deciding priorities in local services which in the past have been mainly determined by central government policies. However this so-called freedom will come with a cut in central financing of 27 per cent in four years -- as good a definition of a poisoned chalice as it is possible to think of.

Birmingham, one of Britain's largest local authorities, has already put 27'000 staff on notice of dismissal and a reliable estimate of the overall effect on jobs throughout the country is at least 100'000. Job losses on this scale imply cuts in many of the local authority services which glue communities together. As they are forced by lack of money to scale down or abolish such services councils will find they have been put in the position of having to do the government's dirty work for it. Doubtless the charities and volunteers in Mr Cameron's “Big Society” will be expected to take the slack in services, but that is just a dream.