Haringey

Council leader Claire Kober has condemned the government’s cuts to public

spending following the local government financial

settlement announced on Tuesday.

Initial

analysis of the figures shows Haringey Council and its residents will be hit

even harder than expected, with a budget shortfall of £46million for services

next year alone, and a total over three years of £85million. A total of 13 per

cent has been cut from the council’s grant budget from April 1, 2011, making Haringey

the sixth worst hit borough in London.

Hackney

Council has already criticised the level of funding reduction and the

"front-loading" of the cuts, meaning councils need to cut tens of

millions of pounds from their budgets next year. "The financial situation

is made worse in areas such as Hackney as we are losing additional grants we

had previously been given to tackle specific problems of economic and social

inequality," said Hackney Mayor Jules Pipe.

Haringey

faces similar issues of social deprivation and will suffer from the removal of

area-based grants. Cllr Kober said yesterday,“The government cuts are a hammer

blow to the people of Haringey, particularly when we are already one of the

most deprived boroughs in the country. We have lobbied the government hard and

urged them to listen to the needs of people in Haringey, but our pleas have

fallen on deaf ears.”

Both

Hackney and Haringey have worked to make back-office savings, Haringey

considering sharing services with Waltham Forest council (as Islington does

with Camden) to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Both councils now fear

that despite these measures, the unprecedented levels of budget cuts will

affect local services.

Cllr

Kober added,"It now seems the worst has come. The speed and sheer scale of

the cuts we are being forced to make will undoubtedly now have a detrimental

effect on vital services, and on the people of Haringey. We don’t want to make

these cuts, and will try to safeguard every service we can, but the government

has left us with little room for manoeuvre.” Cuts to children's services,

libraries, leisure services and care for the elderly are now feared.

The Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles stated on Tuesday

that he has sought to preserve funding for the areas in most need, with a £1043

per head settlement for Hackney whereas Richmond upon Thames will receive £158

per head of the population. TiggerTherese on Twitter however pointed out that

this is a 8.9% reduction in funding for Hackney compared with 0.61%

for Richmond.

An emergency motion by Hackney councillors

challenged Government figures, which said reductions in funding would amount to

seven per cent cuts per year, and stated that with the reduction in other

grants stated the real figure would be closer to 20 per cent in the next

financial year.

Haringey

council is now reviewing the settlement so that initial plans for savings can

be reported to the Cabinet meeting on 21 December. Take part in the Haringey

budget consultation online at this page.