Without a significant and sustained increase in funding for local authorities, Exeter City Council’s ability to deliver crucial services, including supporting some of the most vulnerable in society, is under threat, leaders of the Progressive Group on the Council have warned.
Writing to the city’s MPs, Steve Race and David Reed, they urge them to support a “significant and sustained increase in overall funding that reflects current and future costs and demands for services [1].”
Co-leader of the Progressive Group, Green councillor Diana Moore said:
“Local government is at the heart of democracy in action, responsible for helping to create thriving communities and places, while supporting the most vulnerable people in society. All at a time of ever-reducing budgets, higher and more complex demands, and higher costs.
“Any further funding reductions for councils would be disastrous given the acuteness of the financial pressures they face.”
Councillor Michael Mitchell, the Liberal Democrat co-leader of the Progressive Group, said:
“Ahead of the Budget we are calling on our MPs to back a significant and sustained increase in overall funding that reflects current and future costs and demands for services, in particular for temporary accommodation, waste and recycling services, local infrastructure and funding to accommodate any increase in the National Living Wage.
“Stabilising the local government sector financially will not only protect key services, it will also provide a return on investment to the tax-payer, while improving outcomes for the people and places councils serve.”