John Harris does speak an uncomfortable truth when he says that unless Labour significantly increases financial support for local authorities, the impact of austerity will continue to grind down local communities (The streetlights going out over Britain tell a brutal story: austerity isn’t over – it’s getting worse, 17 November). Fourteen years of Conservative budget cuts have resulted in my own local authority plummeting from being one of the highest-performing “beacon” authorities in England to one that is now in debt and heading towards the bottom rung of the ladder.
The closure of children’s centres, care homes and budget cuts in every service area, from special needs education and social care to library services, have resulted in a threadbare support network locally. This is being replicated across the country.
This Labour government has been pretending that it can rebuild our essential services without having the courage or commitment to introduce a tax regime in which wealth is more fairly distributed and that raises enough revenue to invest in improving these services. There will never be a better opportunity not only to switch back on those darkened streetlights to which Harris refers, but to start rebuilding our local services and communities.
Peter Riddle
Wirksworth, Derbyshire
• A once-established aviary in a Macclesfield park is now virtually derelict, a sad epitaph to a local landmark. The aviary closure was one of the first casualties of David Cameron’s austerity measures affecting the local authority.
John Harris highlights the financial plight that local authorities are facing. As a resident of Cheshire East, I have become frustrated with proposal after proposal followed by consultation, on a repeat cycle. Libraries, roads, refuse collection centres all downgraded to avoid bankruptcy. Local objections can be huge, only to be ignored in preference of the cost-reduction option.
I now fear the damage to local authorities is too severe and that central government is the only realistic option of financially repairing local services in the short term. But I fear that even with increased funding, lost services will never be replaced. Let’s hope I am wrong and the aviary will once again bring birdsong and joy.
Chris Taylor
Macclesfield, Cheshire
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