Alarm bells are sounding in local authorities across the country. Following on from the Autumn Statement, almost one in five councils in England are at risk of going bankrupt at some point in 2024.
When asked by the Local Government Association whether they would be able to fully fund all essential services this year, around half of the council leaders surveyed said they could not.
For those reliant on such services, this news comes as a heavy blow. The threat of further deep cuts means that those facing hardship can expect even less help than before. The workforce that is meant to supply these services, meanwhile, will be wondering whose jobs will go first.
Inferno of austerity
Several council workers, under conditions of anonymity, agreed to speak to Socialist Appeal about the impact of these cuts, and the strain that a new round of austerity will produce.
One worker, whose job involves dealing with mental health provision across the North West, highlighted the challenges.
“Services in my local authority are spread thin as it is, with disastrous consequences for those who rely on our services. There are currently nearly 60 people in need of emergency mental health support on our waiting list.”
He also made clear that the employers’ solution to this was simply to overwork their staff. “Our bosses prey upon the genuine passion social workers have for helping vulnerable people, and keep heaping greater demands upon them.”
He then stated that greater austerity would be like sacking firefighters in the middle of a huge fire. “Further cuts will mean that workers in social care will face an ever greater blaze – with no water and no reinforcements!”
Services savaged
The situation is much the same in the North East.
“Gateshead Council alone has a predicted shortfall of £27.1 million for the year 2024/25,” explained one worker in this local authority. “In Newcastle, the council is facing a shortfall of £15.4 million. Services are stretched to the limit, such as with social care costs spiralling.”
With deficits running into the millions, councils are passing the buck by savaging services. “Many services have been stripped to the bone. Some have disappeared completely. There are pressures on every side. And the region is in desperate need of some relief from the constant austerity and cutbacks.”
Culture cancelled
Nor is the North the only place dealing with such problems. Recently, Suffolk County Council announced its intention to cut budgets by £64.7m in 2024.
“The council have announced that £11 million of these savings will come from internal ‘restructuring’,” one council worker told us. “As everyone knows, this means reducing staff from services that have already been cut to the bone.”
A large chunk of these ‘savings’ will come in the form of massive cuts to the council’s arts budget, threatening many cultural projects in the area.
“I adore the daily challenges my role provides, yet I cringe when telling others where I’m employed at the moment [because of these cuts],” another council worker, whose job is in this field, explained. “The work thrills me; the reputation mortifies me.”
This worker pointed out that arts are not a secondary concern for ordinary people. “Though budgets tighten, creativity mustn’t be stifled. The arts uplift communities and cutting funding damages society’s soul.”
End austerity
These accounts are just a small taste of the chaos to come, as the Tories try to squeeze yet more blood from a stone in the local government sector.
With so many services on the brink, the trade unions must fight back. To overcome any demoralisation in the sector, as well as years of inertia on the part of unions such as Unison, a serious cross-union campaign should be launched to galvanise local authority workers.
Mass rallies should be called in every major city to bring workers together and win over the wider public. This should be a launchpad for large-scale coordinated strikes.
The aim must be to halt and reverse all the cuts, on the basis of a clear socialist programme that seeks to end austerity – and end capitalism – for good.
