‘Urgent’ funding call for Peterborough City Council

Orton Waterville representative Cllr Nicola Day said the authority needs substantial government support to plug a large funding gap related to years of cuts to its budget, as well as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Cllr Day was reacting to an Early Day Motion submitted by MP Caroline Lucas which calls for an extra £8.7 billion to be handed out to local authorities across the country, some of which would be spent on environmental measures.

EDMs are used by MPs in the House of Commons to draw attention to a particular issue, event or campaign.

The city council is currently preparing to make savings of £36 million to balance its 2021/22 budget - which it is legally required to do, with plans outlined so far including a rise in the charge to collect brown bins for garden waste from £45 a year to £50 and the switching off of some lights between midnight and 5am.

The council is also planning to slash its reserves from £32.575 million to £14.053 million over the course of the current financial year.

More money for local authorities was announced in the Government’s spending review last week, but it is not clear yet how much that will benefit Peterborough.

Cllr Day said: “The Green Party are calling on central government to provide fairer funding to local councils. Councils across the UK are struggling and Peterborough City Council currently has a £36 million deficit. The situation is urgent.

“We do not think that the spending review was adequate enough in supporting councils financially, particularly during this pandemic. Without much needed funding council services will face further cuts when services have already been eroded by government austerity measures.

“It is vital now that we invest in renewable energy and retrofitting homes to energy efficient standards. These measures will not only provide residents with cheaper heating bills, they will also help to re-skill and develop a new workforce that will help to protect the environment.

“We have less than a decade to confront the climate emergency and we need to take steps to improve our local economy and protect the planet. We must look towards a Green New Deal and invest our way out of this crisis. I have written to both Paul Bristow MP and Shailesh Vara MP asking them to sign this Early Day Motion.”

The EDM states that: “Prior to the (Covid-19) outbreak, councils were already dealing with a £15 billion reduction to core government funding since 2010 and a 49.1 per cent real-terms reduction between 2010/11 and 2017/18 according to the National Audit Office.”