i recall a while back reading something similar concerning Kensington borough. they've been saving, cutting expediture and rationalising for years, so there little to cut. meanwhile nearby boroughs are not run as efficiently and have significant scope for funding cuts, their largese over time insults them. somehow this isnt recognised by central government who impose a uniform target. this is what happens when you ring fence all the really expensive parts of state funding, whats left has to take a more cuts than is sensible.
There's no uniform target though: Councils in northern, urban cities and London boroughs with high levels of deprivation predominantly run by Labour saw their budgets cut by almost 10 times the amount lost by mostly Tory-administered authorities in rural southern England during the government's first spending round pre 2012 according to official analysis.
10 times? really. they cut 40% over the last parliament. 10x would be a 400% cut, clearly not possible. if in monetry terms, if Oxford cut 72m then thats 720m cut in a Labour council. more than the total cumulative cuts. so they havent seen budgets cut 10 times more.
I believe the 40% is average nationals cut rate. The cuts to Tory authorities in the rural SE were well below this level.
did you read the article - Oxford complaining of the 37% cut to the government grants. i rather thought that was the point, that they arent even discriminating in favour of their own, setting targets without understanding the details. aka spreadsheet managment.
meanwhile a 10% cut to overseas aid would have had similar overall affect on public finance (saving ~600m over 5 years)
sorry for starting the new thread. FIXTURED
Re: Prime Minister in spat thread.
Never mind the party politics, or the left vs. right polemics. Excessive cuts are being imposed across the board by a government that has clearly never done a day's work outside the Westminster political bubble, and doesn't have a clue what the real world is like.
David Cameron would serve his country better if he stuck to f***ing pigs' heads. Better still if he'd f*** George Osborne's neatly severed head (not that I'm pro-ISIS in recommending beheadings; just that some heads would be less missed than others!)
sorry for starting the new thread. FIXTURED
If you get yourself in debt you agree a sensible debt repayment plan.
Time Britain paid off its debts at 1p in the £...........that works for big business and certain (cough) football clubs, doesn't it?Unless some of the current 'ring-fenced' items, are considered for cuts, then the deficit will never be cleared.
Politically unpalatable though.
You stated earlier that a uniform Govt target was imposed. I merely pointed out that this wasn't the case.
The fact that targets have been set without the PM understanding the details does not mean that Tory authorities in the rural SE were not favoured over deprived London and Northern authorities (that are predominantly Labour) pre 2012 (and in all likelihood since). As I've said: the evidence is available via official stats & analysis & does not appear to be greatly disputed.
The main point of the article as far as I am concerned is that the PM does not know what he is doing regarding cuts to government grants because he has not bothered to and/or is incapable of understanding the position local authorities are now in and the consequences of his actions on the delivery of the very front line services he now appears to be very concerned about.
If this level of gross incompetence was demonstrated in my workplace the individual would be quickly moved to a position of little influence and visibility and then exited to mitigate further risk and salvage reputation etc.
Heard today way we are giving Africa £200m in aid what a ****ing jolke this government is.
Unless some of the current 'ring-fenced' items, are considered for cuts, then the deficit will never be cleared.
Politically unpalatable though.