Reacting to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's plans for Local Government as spelled out in the Budget speech, Councillor Sian Berry, said:
“As a Councillor, I feel that Local Government has very little to cheer about in this budget. The attacks on council housing continue, with a phase-out of subsidies for social housing and a cut in rents adding to the many problems facing councils who want to borrow to invest in new homes for their overcrowded residents.
“On the roads, the new tax regime is intended only to fund motorways and main roads, while councils face a huge backlog in the maintenance of their local roads, and a pothole crisis that will only deepen with increased traffic from motorways. The money would be much better spent looking after existing roads, not making traffic problems worse.
“It will also be council staff and services who will be left to pick up the pieces after the latest round of vicious cuts to welfare payments leave growing numbers of people, including our most vulnerable citizens, desperate and destitute without the support they need and deserve.
“This budget shows that the Government has no understanding of the real struggle faced by ordinary people, while the cuts in inheritance and corporation taxes for the most wealthy seem intended to cement George Osborne's reputation as a Chancellor for the 1%.”