By Jim Kennedy

Local councils are being bled dry by the government’s manic devotion to austerity. On average councils receive 40 per cent less central funding than they did in 2010. The cuts have not been applied consistently. The poorest areas (predominantly Labour) have had their funding cut by up to 60 per cent while some richer areas (predominantly Conservative) have barely seen any cuts. Changes to the way local business rates are distributed have made the cuts faced by the poorest areas […]