The last year has seen inflation, rising energy bills, and falls in income from car parks and leisure centres put more and more pressure on council budgets across Merseyside.
This has prompted questions about how councils spend their money, particularly with projected deficits climbing into the millions for some councils. Wirral Council is projected to have a deficit of £49m next year while Liverpool Council faces a blackhole of £73m.
This week, the city council announced a large number of proposals to balance the books including potentially cutting services, reviewing libraries and leisure centres, as well as possible fee and council tax increases.
READ MORE: Commissioners react to Liverpool Council budget proposals
Breaking down for councils across the UK, the Local Government Association revealed that councils on average spend 43% of their budgets on adult social care, 4% higher than in 2012.
Other big spenders are childrens’ social care, environmental services, housing, transport and highways.
In Liverpool, the council spends 36% of its budget or more than £197m on adult social services. It also spends 28% or £155m on children’s services meaning more than two-thirds of the budget goes towards just two areas of the council.
In Wirral, the situation is similar with children's services and adult care making up 58% of the entire budget. The council’s neighbourhoods department, which includes parks, roads, libraries, and waste makes up 14% while regeneration, which includes housing, makes up 11.5%.
14% is also spent on resources which includes Wirral’s finances, investments, digital operations, and pension funds. Law and governance and the Chief Executive office make up 2.5% of the council’s budget.
Services like adult social care and children’s services are statutory duties under councils meaning it is a legal requirement for the council to provide these. Because of this, some argue it can be difficult for councils to find places to cut when these services take up more than half of the overall budget.
In Thursday’s fiscal statement, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that councils across the UK would receive £2.8bn of additional funding for social care as well as allowing councils to increase council tax by 5%.
A council tax rise has currently been ruled out by Wirral’s leader Janette Williamson until annual funding from the government for next year is revealed in December.
Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson said: "In 2010 Government funding for local authorities in England was just over £34 billion. This was decimated over the course of the next decade by Tory austerity.
"By 2020, Government funding to local authorities in England was just over £8 billion. Yet local authorities are still expected to continue to provide the same public services on a fraction of the money they used to receive.
"Our non-statutory services are some of the most valued by our residents and contribute to their standard of living, such as children centres, leisure centres, investing in our neighbourhoods and keeping them clean. But to keep them running, we heavily rely on central government for around 80% of our funding.
"Council tax contributes 13% and business rates 11%. As funding from central government decreases, we have no other option but to become more reliant on council tax, business rates and other income generation increases, which impacts residents already struggling with soaring energy bills and the cost of living.
"This acute irresponsibility from the Tory government will have far reaching and long lasting consequences for communities around the country as local authorities struggle to keep their head above water. Unless they start funding councils fairly, their blatant lack of any kind of moral compass and turning a blind eye is going to see local authorities simply unable to continue - and this will be the Tory legacy."
READ NEXT:
Thug stabbed man in front of families after row at pub's beach party
Mysterious building exposed on Liverpool street after years hidden behind hoardings
Paul McCartney's favourite sandwich is very condiment heavy
DWP Universal Credit and PIP claimants to get up to £824 extra cash
Steven Gerrard's two word response as Wayne Rooney wins career award
