Midlands councils in £166 cuts per person
Council funding in parts of the West Midlands was cut by as much as £166 per person, latest figures have revealed today – sparking a political row.
The numbers have been seized upon by Labour, which has accused the coalition government of targetting deprived areas while sparing wealthy, Tory-run areas the worst of the cuts. Wolverhampton City Council is one of the hardest hit in the West Midlands with £142.78 cut per person since 2010. Birmingham City Council has lost £166.18 per person.
In Sandwell it is £138.36, while in Walsall it is £125.19 and in Dudley £63.26.
Districts have done better with the cut in Wyre Forest at £42.49, in Cannock Chase it is £38.60 and in Stafford £36.03.
In Lichfield £33.52 has been cut per person and in South Staffordshire £33.27.
In Wolverhampton, council chiefs are trying to save £56.5 million over the next five years and are proposing to drastically cut the amount of street cleaning, charge for all pest control services and merge libraries with community and youth centres.
Finance boss Councillor Andrew Johnson said: "Wolverhampton is the 36th hardest hit in the country.
"If you look at somewhere like Wokingham, the cut is only £9.10 per person."
The council has lost the £8.3m Working Neighbourhoods Fund, which provided street wardens, the anti-social behaviour unit and funds for voluntary groups.
It has also been stripped of a £3m fund for careers advice and children's centres. But Gavin Williamson, Tory MP for South Staffordshire, said: "It goes to show that areas like Staffordshire had a much lower level of funding during 13 years of a Labour government."
By Political Editor Daniel Wainwright
