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Council funding cuts in West Sussex

December 15th, 2010 · Posted by Skuds in Politics · 7 Comments · Politics

I have been having a look at the details of the government funding for councils (Excel spreadsheet), and very depressing it is too.  Of course it would be even more depressing if I lived in, say, Hackney, Newham, Manchester, Liverpool or any of those other places faced with cuts in spending of more than 10% but even the local figures are bad enough.

West Sussex county council had a ‘revenue spending power’ in 2010-11 of £563.9million.  Next year it will be £560.2million and in 2011-12 it will be £549.4million – £14.5 million less than this year, a reduction of 2.5%

A pittance compared to those (predominantly Labour) councils facing cuts four or five times larger, but still…   Every year as leader of the county council Henry Smith complained that it didn’t get enough support from the government, and now he is in the government the support is even lower.

In fact it is even worse because those are just cash figures that do not take inflation into account.  Assuming inflation of 3% (and it could get higher than that) the spending power in 2012-13 would have had to be £598.2million just to be equivalent to this year, so the real reduction in 2012-13 is more like £48.8million, or 8.7%.

Somehow I can’t see how the removal of nearly£100million over two years will make West Sussex county council better.

Horsham council sees its spending power go from £16.6million this year to £15.8million next year and £14.5million the year after – £2.1million down just in cash terms.  How will they manage?  They won’t be able to afford any more £800k overspends on recycling schemes that’s for sure.

Crawley will have its spending power reduced from £17million this year to £15.6million and then £14million – a reduction of £3million or 17.6% before inflation is taken into account.

What is interesting is that Crawley’s ‘revenue spending power’ is £400k higher than Horsham this year but in two years will be half a million less than Horsham.  Is this a pre-emptive punishment for the voters of Crawley giving the Tories a good kicking in the local elections next year?

I know one thing.  I would not like to be a councillor this year, or next.  A Tory councillor would have to be making cuts in services without the luxury they have enjoyed in recent years of blaming it all on the government.  A Labour councillor could be faced with making cuts, setting an illegal budget or resigning. A Lib Dem councillor will just be looking for a new hobby to fill all that extra free time they will be getting soon.

Here’s the thing though.  Adding up the column on the spreadsheet for reductions, the total reduction in spending power across all councils is about £2.6billion next year and £1.7billion the year after.  A total of £4.3billion.

That figure is dwarfed by the tax which is avoided and evaded by individuals and companies every year.  Just the amount avoided by one single company, Vodafone, would have been enough to avoid any reduction at all in the formula grants for every council in the country for two years!

Philip Green’s tax situation is not exactly transparent, but best estimates are that just the income tax he has personally avoided would have covered the reductions for almost the whole of Greater London next year.

Even George Osborne’s own personal tax avoidance scheme could have covered Horsham’s shortfall easily.

This would be a good time to remember that this Saturday is ‘pay day’ and this is why protesters will be outside Vodafone shops and Philip Green’s shops like Top Shop across the country (nearest organised protest to Crawley is in Brighton).

Those people who go out protesting on Saturday are the real taxpayers’ alliance.  The Tories asked us to embrace the big society and take over failing public services and a growing number of people are deciding that the service they would most like to help is HMRC.

Meanwhile good luck to the local councils in trying to balance those books.

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7 Comments so far ↓

  • Ash

    “Just the amount avoided by one single company, Vodafone, would have been enough to avoid any reduction at all in the formula grants for every council in the country for two years!”

  • Ash

    sorry punched the wrong button..

    “Just the amount avoided by one single company, Vodafone, would have been enough to avoid any reduction at all in the formula grants for every council in the country for two years!”

    so HMRC are lying when they say:

    \”There is no question of Vodafone having an outstanding tax liability of £6 billion. That number is an urban myth.\”

    • Danivon

      Ash, the problem seems to be that you can’t tell the difference between avoidance and evasion. Vodafone have not evaded that tax, and the HMRC have agreed to that (despite having tried to claim that the tax was due until a few months ago). But they have dodged a rather large liability by structuring things in order to avoid it and reaching an out of court agreement with HMRC

      So, your constructive point was what, now?

      • Danivon

        oh, and you appear not to have close-ended a bold tag in one of your posts. Does that work? [/strong] now?

        ummm.

      • Ash

        “But they have dodged a rather large liability by structuring things in order to avoid it”

        “No man in this country is under the smallest obligation, moral or other, so to arrange his legal relations to his business or to his property as to enable the Inland Revenue to put the largest possible shovel into his stores.”

        Law Lord Clyde – 1929

        • Danivon

          “We are all in it together”

          David Cameron – 2010

          If you are going to play ‘quote wars’ we can do this for as long as you like.

          Or, you could make a constructive point of your own?

  • Hiro

    Law Lord Clyde…..bound to be a thieving Tory