Slight reductions in government funding to Wiltshire Council

10.05.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 11th Jun 2010

As part of the overall reduction in government spending, cuts have been announced for Wiltshire. These amount to just 0.7% of the money allocated to the county under the previous government.

There are also reductions in the amount which is ring-fenced. That's when government gives money to councils but specifies what it has to be spent on, thus tending to create inefficiencies in the system, with councils forced to spend money on things which may not be necessary just to satisfy Whitehall targets.

The figures of the main government grants for the current financial year are:

Indicative Dedicated Schools Grant - £251,902,000

Sure Start, £10,473,000

School Development Grant, £13,193,000

Formula Grant, £102,442,000

Area Based Grant £17.375

The total including other smaller grants is £407,152,000

The total reductions now required are £2,713,000.

There's also a reduction of £1.47million in the capital budget allocation.

There is no change to police or fire grants.

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Commenting on the Government's £1.165 billion cuts to local authorities, Margaret Eaton, Chairman of the Local Government Association, said:

"We have to recognise that these cuts will be painful to implement this year and will have a significant effect on services and the people who rely on them.

"Councils are having to implement a big slice of the Government's £6.2 billion initial savings in the middle of the financial year. Town halls have already carefully planned their budgets, made commitments and set priorities and it is not easy to change their plans in the middle of a year. Extra flexibility to take local spending decisions will help councils cope.

"Further cuts are inevitable and we will work with the Government to deliver reform and minimise the impact on services people rely on. Councils will want assurances that savings will be made by pruning out the maze of quangos, middlemen, bureaucratic funding streams and audit arrangements so that we can protect front lines services that the most vulnerable people depend on.

"Town halls are the most efficient part of the public sector. They have already committed to 4 per cent efficiency savings this year and have made significant savings, including job losses in many areas, to weather the financial perfect storm created by the recession.

"We need nothing less than a transformation of the way the public sector works to deliver savings through a bonfire of bureaucracy, a radical scaling back of the quango state and giving power to the people who know their areas best."