- Conference
- 2021 Virtual Special Local Government Service Group Conference
- Date
- 1 January 2021
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that since 2010, local government has experienced a decade of austerity. The post-Brexit political situation merely heightened the constitutional debate in a �disunited kingdom� of growing civic nationalism and regionalisation, the unsettled will for political change and the growing plurality of politics, which will have long-lasting implications for government and governance.
Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic is the single greatest challenge the country has faced since the second world war. Despite promises from successive governments, council funding remains a significant challenge that has not been addressed. The Local Government Association warned that councils face an estimated financial challenge of over �10billion due to Covid-19. Local authorities have had to contend with implementing national support schemes at short notice, increased demand for support to vulnerable residents and reduced collection of council tax and business rates as the pandemic took hold.
This conference believes that the funding crisis in local government, caused by the austerity policies of the Conservative government, has reached a critical level. In towns and cities across the country vital services have been closed and cut back � with no end in sight.
Conference applauds UNISON�s work into what the �10bn funding gap would mean in terms of cuts to service areas � how if applied equally across all services, it would mean �1.9bn slashed from children�s social care spending, �1.1bn from environmental services and �3.5bn from adult social care � an area already in crisis before the coronavirus outbreak. A reduction of that magnitude could lead to the loss of 51,000 children�s social workers, 141,000 adult care workers, and almost 46,000 refuse collectors
Councils in the North East have a funding shortfall of at least �54.7m between them, with the worst hit in the region being Sunderland (�12.3m), followed by Newcastle upon Tyne (�10.2m) and Gateshead (�6m).
UNISON believes our members working in local authorities and the politicians elected to represent our communities are determined to play their part in stopping the spread of Covid-19. However, they do so with one hand tied behind their back as the government fails to honour the commitment made by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick MP, when he said councils would be funded to do �whatever it takes� to support their communities.
The grim reality of the Spending Review is a real term pay cut for millions who work across public services, with the added risk of job cuts further down the line. The Tories� pay policy means about �520 less for a nursery nurse, �659 less for a social worker and �510 less a year for a local government admin officer.
When restrictions are lifted, and the crisis is over things cannot return to how they were beforehand. Conference believes government�s levelling up agenda will be fatally undermined unless local communities are provided with good quality local services and funding for all the associated support councils provide. Getting us on the road to recovery will require a fully staffed, properly paid public service workforce � as well as measures to revive the private sector and get people back to work.
The government�s delayed Fair Funding Review will also potentially shift resources away from the north east to more affluent parts of the country and is a further cause for concern. Analysis commissioned by the Local Government Association in 2020 showed �350m a year would be moved from councils in deprived areas with Tory-controlled shire councils gaining �300m.
This includes now Tory-held seats such as Sedgefield and Bishop Auckland, which will feel the impact of the �10million loss that Durham County Council would suffer under the current plans.
This Conference recognises that there were a wide range of reasons as to why Labour lost the 2019 general election. We believe that one factor may have been the role played by Labour councils in implementing austerity-driven cuts.
This conference notes with disappointment that it is not only Tory-controlled local authorities, but also those with Labour majorities, that are carrying out cuts. Often our union is the last line of defence for workers in local government services and for those who use council services.
We believe that councils, particularly Labour councils where UNISON may have some influence, should do everything within their power and within the law to avoid making cuts, whilst promoting their actions in the community and building a local campaign. They should also link up with others to develop a national strategy to fight the cuts.
This conference believes that UNISON must be seen to actively oppose austerity-driven cuts to services � through public campaigning, lobbying, petitions and through supporting our members who work in these services � whoever is running the council.
This conference calls on the Service Group Executive to:
1) Campaign for the government to fund the Covid-19 related shortfall in council budgets and honour its pledge to financially compensate councils during the pandemic;
2) Continue to campaign for government to commit to a long-term future financial settlement that creates stability for local government services, addresses regional inequalities and ensures services for most vulnerable are funded � including an answer to the funding of adult social care services;
3) Continue to campaign to bring more local government services back in-house and oppose further privatisation.
4) Call on all councils to look at what options they have to generate resources and avoid making cuts � including the use of reserves, capitalising eligible general fund expenditure and using prudential borrowing to generate revenue (such as in those councils which have borrowed to invest in property, using the returns in rents etc. to supplement their revenue budgets);
5) Support those councils who take up this option, in developing local campaigns in defence of local authority services;
6) Support and promote efforts to link up those councils across the countries of the UK;
7) Promote this position at all levels of the union, including within the Labour Link.