£73 less to be spent on each of us
Alex Gore • Published 14 Jan 2012 08:00
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READING'S spending power has been slashed by £73 per person since the Coalition Government took control of the country's finances.
Reading Borough Council revealed this week its coffers for the coming financial year will contain £133m compared to £145m in 2010-11 - with spending power reduced by £41 per head for 2011-12 and £32 for 2012-13.
It is the country's 16th biggest cut for a unitary authority and 64th for an upper tier authority. Neighbouring Wokingham has lost just £16 per head over the two years, with spending power for 2012-13 at £111m - although it still has nearly £200 less to spend per resident then Reading.
Reading council leader, Jo Lovelock, said: "It cannot be right. It just makes the pressures on places like Reading much more difficult. We have had all this nonsense from the Coalition about being fair and that we are all in this together. How can they justify this differential reduction I do not know."
The Labour administration is also critical of the Government's grant to authorities which freeze council tax. Reading was given £1.7m this year - the equivalent of a 2.5% increase - and £3.4m for 2012-13 - equal to a 2.5% rise for both years.
But with the policy due to be reviewed and likely to be scrapped, Cllr Lovelock warned it will leave Reading having to plug a £3.4m hole in its finances at the start of 2013-14 before it can even begin to find any other required savings.
Newly elected Tory group leader, Cllr Tim Harris, said: "Under the previous Labour Government some authorities were unfairly getting a whole lot more than others. If there was more money to go round, it would be great but there is not. The country is running at a deficit, we are not breaking even and anyone that tells you otherwise needs to wake up."
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 12 Jan 12
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