English Councils Are Flogging Off Public Assets to Plug Financial Holes Caused by Austerity
Morning Star, London
An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism finds 12,000 publicly owned spaces and properties have been sold since 2015-16
Former Chancellor George Osborne allowed councils in 2016 to spend proceeds of sell-offs on cost-cutting measures
ENGLISH councils are flogging off land and property to developers to plug financial holes caused by government cuts and to pay for redundancies that they make during austerity.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s claim that “austerity is over” has been shattered by an investigation by the independent non-profit Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
Using the Freedom of Information law, it found that 12,000 publicly owned spaces and properties have been sold since 2015-16.
The sell-offs of public spaces, libraries, community centres and playgrounds have raised £9.1 billion to offset deficits caused by austerity.
In April 2016, the then Chancellor George Osborne relaxed the rules to allow councils to spend proceeds of sell-offs on cost-cutting measures, when before they could only pay for buying new assets.
The investigation found that one in six councils in England have raised £381 million from sales of buildings and land to pay for cuts since April 2016. Almost a third – £115 million – was spent on redundancy payments.
The five local authorities that spent the highest amount on redundancies paid for through the new spending powers were Birmingham (£23m), Haringey (£8m), Stoke-on-Trent (£7.7m), Telford and Wrekin (£5.9m) and Wakefield (£5.9m).
The investigation found that the average number of redundancies over three years was 75 per cent higher at councils that made use of the new spending powers than at those which did not.
Birmingham was the worst hit, with the investigation finding that the council disposed of 167 buildings or plots of land between April 2016 and July last year.
The lost public assets in the city include community centres, allotments, car parks, an outdoor education centre and a university building.
The council’s workforce has halved since 2010.
Last week Birmingham Council announced plans to cut another 1,095 jobs.
Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Perry Barr in Birmingham, said: “This is an absolutely ridiculous way to do business. We should never have been doing this. We should never have been selling the land that we have inherited from our forefathers for future generations.
“It just takes the future away from our children and grandchildren to come and that is really devastating.”
Shadow communities and local government secretary Andrew Gwynne said: “Austerity has hollowed out the heart of our communities. This report reveals the shocking disposal of our community assets under the Tories.
“Since 2010 local government has lost 60p out of every pound that the last Labour government invested in our local communities.”
An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism finds 12,000 publicly owned spaces and properties have been sold since 2015-16
Former Chancellor George Osborne allowed councils in 2016 to spend proceeds of sell-offs on cost-cutting measures
ENGLISH councils are flogging off land and property to developers to plug financial holes caused by government cuts and to pay for redundancies that they make during austerity.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s claim that “austerity is over” has been shattered by an investigation by the independent non-profit Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
Using the Freedom of Information law, it found that 12,000 publicly owned spaces and properties have been sold since 2015-16.
The sell-offs of public spaces, libraries, community centres and playgrounds have raised £9.1 billion to offset deficits caused by austerity.
In April 2016, the then Chancellor George Osborne relaxed the rules to allow councils to spend proceeds of sell-offs on cost-cutting measures, when before they could only pay for buying new assets.
The investigation found that one in six councils in England have raised £381 million from sales of buildings and land to pay for cuts since April 2016. Almost a third – £115 million – was spent on redundancy payments.
The five local authorities that spent the highest amount on redundancies paid for through the new spending powers were Birmingham (£23m), Haringey (£8m), Stoke-on-Trent (£7.7m), Telford and Wrekin (£5.9m) and Wakefield (£5.9m).
The investigation found that the average number of redundancies over three years was 75 per cent higher at councils that made use of the new spending powers than at those which did not.
Birmingham was the worst hit, with the investigation finding that the council disposed of 167 buildings or plots of land between April 2016 and July last year.
The lost public assets in the city include community centres, allotments, car parks, an outdoor education centre and a university building.
The council’s workforce has halved since 2010.
Last week Birmingham Council announced plans to cut another 1,095 jobs.
Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Perry Barr in Birmingham, said: “This is an absolutely ridiculous way to do business. We should never have been doing this. We should never have been selling the land that we have inherited from our forefathers for future generations.
“It just takes the future away from our children and grandchildren to come and that is really devastating.”
Shadow communities and local government secretary Andrew Gwynne said: “Austerity has hollowed out the heart of our communities. This report reveals the shocking disposal of our community assets under the Tories.
“Since 2010 local government has lost 60p out of every pound that the last Labour government invested in our local communities.”
No comments:
Post a Comment