Council spending falls by a third, says CIPFA

Spending per capita dropped by 17.2 per cent between 2009-10 and 2015-16, which represents a drop of 32 per cent when adjusted for inflation.

Housing has experienced the biggest loss, with an estimated cut of 9.9 per cent, while planning and development suffered a comparable reduction of 9.8 per cent.

Education (-2.4 per cent), cultural services (-4.5 per cent) and adult social care (- 4.5 per cent) have also experienced spending cuts, but transport did see an increase of 2.2 per cent.

Chief executive of CIPFA, Rob Whiteman, said: “To survive in this tough economic climate it’s absolutely right for councils to have a rigorous focus on value for money and work more effectively with the wider public sector to deliver savings for taxpayers and better outcomes for local communities.”

He added: “That’s why we believe there needs to be substantial reforms to our systems of public financial management with greater alignment of local public services and for the government to budget for the medium to long term if public services are to be sustainable over the next decade.”

A Department for Communities & Local Government spokesman said: "We have worked closely with councils to design and put in place schemes such as the Troubled Families programme and the Better Care Fund that will help deal with some of the long-term pressures on their budgets. And we are devolving powers and budgets to help areas grow their local economy and keep more of what they earn.

“In the run up to the Spending Review and next local government settlement we will continue to listen to the views of councils, the Local Government Association and others about the best way of distributing funding and meeting the demand for services in order to achieve fairness, efficiency and local economic growth.”

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