Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/1100/31318
From The Socialist newspaper, 9 September 2020
Covid-19 pandemic increases financial pressures on Welsh local government
Mark Evans, Unison Carmarthenshire branch secretary (personal capacity)
A report from the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) finance subgroup paints a bleak picture for the future of local government and the important services it provides in Wales.
The report includes a survey by the WLGA of all 21 local authorities in Wales and the estimated impact the Covid-19 crisis will have on council's income and expenditure. The report also examines Covid-19 announcements made by the Tory central government that could result in consequential funding allocations for Wales, and finally the pressure facing services in Wales "beyond the current crisis into the next financial year 2021-22".
The Welsh Government to date has supplied funds to local authorities for income loss and increased expenditure as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. These funds are allocated through a claims process. However, the report states that "the funding to date has been significant and helpful but further unfunded pressures are likely to occur as communities return to normal levels of activity".
Even before any further Tory cuts, the report predicts there could be a funding shortfall of between £83 million and £475 million for local authorities in Wales. If the shortfall is anywhere near the top figure, some local authorities "will be facing irretrievable financial positions", code for effectively being bankrupt.
All this before significant future pressures for funding in social care and in schools and education are considered.
What does the WLGA propose to deal with this crisis? Local authorities need to engage in transformative change, adopt new operating models and reprioritise services. This is code for cuts and for local authorities to outsource services.
While the WLGA claims that the 'relative stability of local authority finances in Wales' compared to England has been assisted by partnership between the Welsh Government and councils in Wales, it then admits that local authorities in Wales are facing unprecedented pressure. They forget to mention that the Labour Welsh government passed on previous Tory cuts with barely a whimper, and Labour councillors have seen their role as administrating these cuts.
Many councils in Wales are in a precarious financial situation, and some are tottering on the edge of a cliff waiting for the next wave of Tory cuts to send them crashing into the sea.
The Socialist Party has consistently argued for councils to set legal, no-cuts budgets and for councils, trade unions and anti-cuts campaigns to come together to fight all cuts. It is vital that this happens urgently. The U-turns this Tory government has already made shows it can be defeated. But we need councillors and trade union leaders who are prepared to lead coordinated mass action. If they won't stand up and fight, they should step aside for those that will.
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
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In The Socialist 9 September 2020:
Coronavirus news
Fight the schools Covid crisis
Safety overridden in drive to bolster the economy
Caerphilly lockdown puts profits before safety
Campaigns and party news
Jobs, training, pay, we want a future!
Dover: Solidarity with refugees - applause and cheers for socialist ideas to unite working class
BLM: Socialist alternative to racist capitalism
Big push to hit finance target
News
15% now - unions must fight for NHS pay rise
Callous Tories threaten not to uprate the minimum wage
XR blockade: Don't let the Tories criminalise protest
Grenfell fire inquiry stops victims attending
Video game developer attacks Black Lives Matter
What we think
U-turn Tories' splits are growing
Workplace news
Fight Amazon's anti-union spies
NSSN rally: Workers must not pay the price of Covid
Nottingham City Council: The (mis)adventures of Robin Hood Energy
Covid-19 pandemic increases financial pressures on Welsh local government
Ireland: Debenham's workers occupy stores
Unison
A critical election for Unison general secretary
TUSC
Back at work! TUSC to stand in elections again against pro-austerity politicians
International news
Belarus: Mass opposition continues to defy repression by Lukashenko's regime
Strike wave marks new stage in revival of Iranian workers' movement
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