Cuts, Cuts And More Cuts

In an effort to deal with a national economic crisis the government has attempted to make major local welfare cuts. 'English councils will face an average cut of 1.8% in their overall spending power, the government has said. Minister Kris Hopkins said the funding grants settlement for 2015-16 was "fair for all parts of the country". He said no council would face a loss of more than 6.4% - but Labour said councils in the greatest need were facing the biggest cuts in funding. Local authority bosses said cuts of up to 6.4% would "push some authorities to breaking point".' (BBC News, 18 December) One of the difficulties of these local cuts were they tended to hurt those who were the most vulnerable. RD