By stewartb

Mr Whittle chooses to be a Tory. He has no doubt been delighted that the UK had a Tory government in Westminster for more than a decade prior to mid-2024, with his Tory colleagues responsible for setting most UK fiscal and all monetary policies. Plus responsibility for determining the financing of local government in England, with its knock on impacts for the ‘block grant’ transferred to NI, Scotland and Wales. And so he really does need to face up to and acknowledge his own party’s impact! in government!

From the Swim England website dated November 21, 2023: ‘Ongoing high energy cost continue to threaten future of pools and facilities’.

It reports: ‘.. three quarters (75 per cent) of private facilities are extremely likely to have to increase their customer pricing in the next six months, with 87.5 per cent having already been forced to raise prices over the past year to cope with high operating costs.’

And: ‘… more than 1,000 publicly accessible pools have closed since 2010 – while, around 1,500 are in excess of 40 years old and coming towards the end of their ‘shelf life’.’ (my emphasis)

Looking directly at the impact of the Tory Party’s track record on local government financing:

Source: Local Government Association (December 13, 2023) Reforming the local government funding system in England. Joint report by the LGA, Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE) and Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountability (CIPFA).

‘Council finances in England are under pressure like never before. Reductions in grant funding, increases in the scale and complexity of service demand, and the recent spike in inflation and wage costs have created the perfect storm for town halls.’

‘LGA analysis shows that by 2026/27 these pressures will have increased the cost of delivering services by 12.5 per cent since 2024/25, leaving councils facing a funding gap of £6.2 billion across 2025/26 and 2026/27 just to sustain services at 2024/25 levels. These pressures come on top of the fact that councils have already absorbed a 22.2 per cent real terms reduction in core spending power from 2010/11 to 2024/25.‘ (my emphasis)

‘Councils need a significant and sustained increase in overall funding to stem the emerging risk of system-wide financial failure and to ensure that councils can meet growing demand for the vital services needed by their communities.’

Also from this LGA report, Figure 1 ‘Council revenue funding sources as a share of total revenue income – 2013/14 and 2022/23‘:

• in 2013/14: 35% of revenue from Westminster government grant and 32% from Council Tax
• In 2022/23: 23% of revenue from Westminster government grant and 39% from Council Tax.

This overall shift from Westminster government grant funding of local government in England – to a greater reliance on local Council Tax revenue – will have had negative implications for Scotland’s ‘block grant’.

And on the knock on effects of Mr Whittle’s Tory Party in government in Westminster on Wales? From University of Cardiff’s Fiscal Analysis  (October, 2023) ‘The medium-term fiscal outlook for local government in Wales – briefing’.

‘Over recent months, there have been increasing concerns raised about the financial sustainability of Welsh local authorities. Research by the BBC found that 20 Welsh councils expect a combined shortfall of £395 million over the next two years.‘

‘The Welsh Local Government Association estimate a budget gap could open up of between £330 million to £480 million next year, with “serious impact on local service delivery”.’

‘The Senedd’s Local Government and Housing Committee recently warned that immediate and long-term extra funding is needed to stop leisure centres and libraries from closing.

‘Meanwhile, the Welsh Government has described its budgetary position as “the most difficult financial situation since the dawn of devolution”.

The briefing paper on Wales reports: ‘Council Tax increases averaging 5.8% in 2023-24.’

‘Given the outlook for grant funding, local authority budgets are likely to become more dependent on Council Tax revenues. Including the planned increase in grant funding next year, we estimate over four-fifths of the increase in local government resource revenues by 2027-28 will derive from increasing Council Tax revenues.’

All of the above puts in perspective does it not, Mr Whittle’s – and The Herald’s – focus on blaming the Scottish Government for a below inflation price rise in a country with among the lowest Council Tax bills in the UK?