Government belts set to tighten

On Wednesday Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to announce £15bn of spending cuts over the next few years when he delivers his Budget statement. Labour thinking is not far off the Tories - with shadow chancellor George Osborne’s warning that a Conservative Government would be forced to implement spending cuts and increase taxes.

While the Tories have been careful about revealing detailed plans of proposed cuts plans, Labour is expected to announce ‘efficiency savings’ targeted at staff working on back office functions - not the frontline.

At the same time both Labour and the Tories have set their sights on making services more responsive and reflective of the needs of local people. The Community Empowerment White Paper and the Policy Green Paper, Control Shift proved this respectively. For us it is frustrating that just as national policy finally swings behind the principles of NM, the resources to invest in implementation have more or less evaporated.  So what can we do?

While the NANM urgently needs hard-edged arguments based on the savings NM achieves through more responsive and effective services, compared to traditional top-down service models. For instance Involve Northwest in Tranmere gets people into work for a fraction of what it costs conventional New Deal agencies – and has better retention rates. At a more basic level better street-scene means less littering and 10% less littering could save an average town £15,000+ annually. We need to start making arguments like these, and we need them quick. Let us know.

In other newsCLG has announced measures to make it easier for community groups in England to turn stores into galleries or advice centres. It is hoped that allowing empty shops to be temporarily converted into social enterprises, local art displays or learning centres will help innovative communities prevent high streets declining. The new provisions include special planning application waivers and standard interim-use leases, Click here to read more.

Research by the Work Foundation has shown that traditional manufacturing areas that suffered in previous recessions are bearing the brunt of the current slump. Unemployment as a percentage of the local population is rising most sharply in the old industrial areas of the north of England, the Midlands and south Wales. Click here to read the report in full.