Express & Star comment: Local authorities face serious challenges
There is no doubt that our local authorities face some serious challenges over the coming months and years.
Having come through a decade where they have dealt with sizeable cuts to budgets, many of them were starting to see light at the end of tunnel. Councils across the Black Country and Staffordshire deserve great credit for cutting their cloth accordingly and riding out the storm. Somehow, many of them managed to get through a period of severe financial constraints without resorting to cutting too much away from key service areas. But just when it looked like a brighter future lay ahead, everything changed.
The impact of the coronavirus will be felt for years to come across all aspects of our lives. Unemployment will rise, businesses will go bust. Crime is likely to increase as a result.
In a best case scenario, the negative statistics will be limited to the low double digits. The worst case scenario does not bear thinking about. It is little wonder then that local authorities across the region are preparing to batten down the hatches.
In today’s Express & Star, Wolverhampton council leader Ian Brookfield describes an “oncoming economic storm”, which is more akin to a depression than a recession. Undoubtedly, additional government funding will be needed, with councils likely to require all the financial help they can get in order to support their most vulnerable residents. However, with the Treasury’s coffers already strained to breaking point by the pandemic, it is questionable how far the level of support will go. The stark reality is that drastic changes lie ahead for the vast majority of our local authorities.
Major infrastructure projects and improvements will be delayed, or possibly even cancelled. Many services will no longer be delivered in the same way as they have been for decades. Sadly, cuts are inevitable.
While testing times undoubtedly lie ahead, we can be sure that our councils will be doing all they can to protect society’s most vulnerable. For 10 years they have got used to doing more with less. Now their financial acumen is about to be tested to its limits.
