Poor areas bear brunt of £449m national cuts

Oldham must repay £2.83m

Almost £3 million is being slashed from funding across Oldham as part of Government cuts to help reduce the nation’s debt.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has ordered Oldham Council to hand back £2.83 million from this year’s budget, though that is expected to increase further in the coming weeks as less than half the amount that must be saved from local government has been identified so far.

Council chiefs had been allocated £343.645 million for 2010-11 which is now being reduced by 0.8 per cent to £340.815 million.

More than £1.83 million of the money being axed was ring-fenced for specific education projects, which can include teaching standards, improving attendance and tackling teenage pregnancies. Other cuts include more than £170,000 from tackling extremism and improving cohesion, and a further £179,000 from the administration of a programme which helps people to live independently.

In addition, £625,000 of cuts are coming from the working neighbourhood fund, which allows councils and communities to help get people back into work.

Whitehall officials insist this does not mean those schemes will automatically be scrapped but the council will instead have to decide what its priorities are.

Not all councils are facing cuts as the £29 billion general grant to councils across the country — the main source of funding that local government receives every year — is not being reduced.

Ministers say this will ensure that key frontline services can be protected and council tax-rises prevented.

Instead all the cuts are from the area-based grants which provides extra money for more deprived areas.

The £2.83 million reduction to Oldham is part of a £449.9 million package of cuts to councils announced yesterday by the Department for Local Government and Communities.

It is part of the wider £1.16 billion savings the department will make.

Capital grants will account for the rest of the savings but no specific details have yet been released.

Mr Pickles said reductions had to be made as the nation’s deficit is running at £156 billion.

He said: “The detailed spending decisions outlined show a clear determination to make the necessary savings while minimising the impact on essential frontline services, like rubbish collections and protecting spending on schools and Sure Start.

“We have focused attention on reducing the centre and it is here that the reductions are the hardest.

“Steps have been taken to limit the impact on local authorities and make savings proportionally.

“Councils have been given the flexibility they need to determine where they make savings.

“We are clear that no extra burden must fall on local taxpayers.

“We are committed to freezing council tax in England for at least one year, and seek to freeze it for a further year, in partnership with local authorities.”

Nick Brown, chair of Oldham Partnership said: “This announcement comes as no surprise.

“An open and wide-ranging review of area-based grants carried out by Oldham Partnership has been ongoing for some months now.

“The Partnership is committed to ensuring that budget cuts are well managed and that vital services continue to receive the funding they require.

“Looking to the future more work will be done to continue to restructure services in order to ensure that we deliver the best value for money possible.”