Local govt finding isn’t exactly one of the main issues in #ge2019. But interesting @TheIFS briefing suggests given the Conservatives have allocated no extra money for local govt at all in its manifesto, council tax is more likely to rise if they win. ifs.org.uk/election/2019/…
Background: cuts to local govt (when population growth is taken into account) is 24% per person.
In most deprived areas that rises to 31% (spending was higher in those areas to begin with and remains 1.3x as high compared to least deprived, though that fig was 1.6 in 2010).
In most deprived areas that rises to 31% (spending was higher in those areas to begin with and remains 1.3x as high compared to least deprived, though that fig was 1.6 in 2010).
The Conservatives have proposed no extra money for local govt in their manifesto save for pot holes. Therefore IFS says council tax would have to increase by 4% a year every year and it still wouldn’t be enough to keep up with rising demand for local govt services.
Labour meanwhile propose £13bn of new money for existing local govt services, which would meet demand needs even with no council tax increases. Although even with this huge injection of cash, we’d still be below 2010 funding levels.
Lab also proposed £7bn for local authorities to pay for social care for certain over 75s. IFS casts doubts as to whether that will be enough (esp given their living wage proposals) and of course, whether the tax increases elsewhere will be enough to pay for everything.
So this election in a nutshell. No detail at all from one party and no sense of what they’d do about the problem (or acknowledgement it even exists). Lots of details/ideas from the other but sizeable doubts over credibility of the medicine, given scale of commitments elsewhere.
