That’s the view of one councillor in Nottingham, where the city’s finances remain in “critical” condition and Reform UK has taken control of the neighbouring Nottinghamshire County Council .
Labour-run town halls are pleading with Reeves and ministers to help them fend off Nigel Farage’s rise with a funding overhaul that gives deprived areas a bigger share of funding from Whitehall.
It comes as experts warned deprived areas vulnerable to Reform could see more council tax hikes and cuts to services like community centres, bins and pothole repairs.
The Labour-run Midlands council was forced to issue an emergency 114 notice in 2023, with the Government appointing special commissioners to help run the town hall.
Nottingham City Council has been forced to make deep cuts after effectively declaring bankruptcy (Source: Getty Images)Like many cash-strapped Red Wall local authorities, it has also hiked council tax by 4.99 per cent, the maximum level allowed without a referendum.
However, the Red Wall council still faces a budget gap of £53m for the next four years. And it needed a £25m “exceptional financial support” loan from central Government earlier this year.
Chapman – who is also vice-chair of the SIGOMA group of urban councils, mainly in the North and Midlands – said a major “rebalancing” in the local government funding formula was needed so deprived areas like Nottingham get a bigger share.
“So we need fairer funding,” he added. “It will help councils in deprived areas at least kept their heads above water. It’s not going to lead to the land of milk and honey.”
But it won’t make up for the £24.5bn worth of funding cuts during the austerity years under the Conservatives – or meet the rising demands ahead – say experts.
Shuguftah Quddoos, a Green Party councillor in Nottingham, is worried about the “harmful” impact cuts are already having.
Former Labour councillor Shuguftah Quddoos claims the party is overseeing ‘austerity 2.0’
“Things have been cut to the bone. When you’re looking to reduce care packages, it’s so detrimental. We know cuts will hurt the poorest the most.
Dr Marcellus Baz, a former boxer who is the CEO of the Switch Up youth charity, said its council funding was cut by 30 per cent last year. He is having “sleepless nights”, he said, about the impact of cuts in the city.
The Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner’s office said knife crime violence in the area fell 5 per cent in 2024. But there was a spate of knife crime incidents in the city in February and March this year.
Marcellus Baz of the Switch Up youth charity is having ‘sleepless nights’ over cuts (Photo: Switch Up)Reform UK took control of the nearby Nottinghamshire County Council from the Tories during the election in May.
Nottingham City Council’s deputy leader Ethan Radford, said “significantly reduced” funding during the Tory austerity years saw the authority lose over £100m a year.
Aside from the spending review, Labour has promised to look at the formula which determines each council’s share of funding. Proposals will be set out later this summer.
Labour’s Barnsley Council leader Stephen Houghton said fairer funding was needed to ‘stem the tide of Reform’ (Photo: Barnsley Council)
Labour leader of Barnsley Council Stephen Houghton, who is also chair of SIGOMA, which represents 49 urban authorities mainly in the North and Midlands, said fairer funding was vital to help “keep the wolf from the door”.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council raised council tax by just under 5 per cent as it made £8m-worth of cuts and savings.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned council tax bills are set to rise at their fastest rate for two decades, describing it as the “sting in the tail” of Reeves’s review.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it was determined to make progress “on the financial situation we have inherited in our councils”.
They added: “The spending review provides over £5bn of new grant funding for local services that communities rely on.”
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