More than £500 million could be saved in local government budget, Labour’s report finds

Following Ed Miliband’s speech on the deficit today, the Labour leadership are outlining how they will make £500 million in savings in the Communities and Local Government budget.

This comes from the third report from the Zero Based-Review, led by Chris Leslie, Shad0w Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Hilary Benn, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. They pinpoint a number of ways savings could be made, which include:

• Saving over £500 million a year by streamlining and sharing services from 2016/17
• Putting a stop to the New Homes Bonus, and relocate funding within local government
• Consider merging some Fire and Rescue Authorities in England to protect frontline firefighters and appliances

The report also goes into details on Labour’s plans to devolve £30 billion worth of funding over five years to city and county regions.

Leslie explained the difference between Labour’s and the Conservative’s plans on the economy:

“David Cameron’s government is set to break its promise to balance the books and get the national debt falling.

“The next Labour government will get the deficit and debt down, but we will do so in a fairer way and by examining every pound of spending. 

“Labour’s Zero-Based Review has identified more than £500 million a year of savings in the Communities and Local Government budget which will help to better protect frontline services as we get the deficit down.”