Leicestershire County Council faces extra £10m cuts
An extra £10m in cuts to Leicestershire budget will be enforced because of a change in local government funding, council leaders say.
County council leaders said they will meet county MPs to discuss their concerns next week. A council report said the government changes are "ill thought-out and damaging" and "long-term funding for local government is not sustainable." The Tory-led council said it must find a total of £110m in savings, by 2018. High speed rail Council deputy leader Byron Rhodes said he was concerned services for the elderly and disabled would come under the most pressure. A cabinet report said the government should "reconsider spending on protected budgets such as overseas aid and High Speed Two in the light of the detrimental impact the reductions in support for local government will have on frontline services". A Communities and Local Government Department spokesman said: "Every bit of the public sector needs to keep doing its bit to pay off the inherited deficit, and the government has secured a good deal for local government including freezing council tax for a further two years." He encouraged councils to recover more uncollected council tax, reduce fraud and use their reserves. In February, the council said it had to make £78m of savings but has since been told by the government to expect another year of reduced funding.