Calderdale Labour leader Cllr Tim Swift has joined with other Labour Leaders from across England and Wales to call on Boris Johnson, the new Prime Minister, to end cuts to local government. Tory cuts mean councils have lost 60p out of every £1 that the last Labour Government was spending on local government in 2010.

Pressures on councils are increasing – adult social care is crumbling, more children are being taken into care than ever before, and there is a dire shortage of council housing. Hard-working council staff who deliver our services have lost the equivalent of £1 out of every £5 they earned before, and are now the lowest paid in the public sector. Calderdale Council has lost over £65 million in funding since 2010.

The letter has been signed by over 100 Labour Council Leaders from England and Wales and it calls on the new Prime Minister to immediately invest £2bn in children’s services and £2bn in adult social care, reverse the changes to the council funding formula that have forced the biggest cuts on the most deprived areas, and pledge to use the Spending Review to restore council funding to 2010 levels over the next four years.

Leader of Calderdale Council Tim Swift, said:

“This letter has my full support. Along with other Labour Council Leaders I am calling on the new Prime Minister to immediately invest £2bn into children’s services and £2bn into adult social care, as well as using the upcoming Spending Review to restore funding to local government to 2010 levels over the next four years.

”I am proud that in Calderdale, so far we have been able to protect vital services such as children’s centres; improve children’s services; and give a sense of hope with vital investment for the future. But unless national policy changes, continued cuts in funding could put vital local services at risk. For too long, central government has ignored the needs of communities like ours, forcing councils to chose between the front line services that we all take for granted, and the need to look after children, adults and older people who need extra support and care.

“That’s why I am joining with colleagues to deliver a powerful message to the Prime Minister and Chancellor that councils simply cannot take any more cuts. Further cuts to local government by central government will mean that there will be devastating effects for children at risk, disabled adults, and vulnerable older people, as well as on community services up and down the country.”

You can read the letter here.