Dear Prime Minister
Re: Number 10 Policy Unit dialogue on budget reductions
I noted with interest your letter to Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council.
I also note references you made in the letter to the wider issue of significant reductions to the settlement for local government made by the Coalition government you led between 2010 and 2015 and the Conservative administration you now lead.
I welcome your concern about the impact of Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s cuts in frontline services in communities across the country. I trust you will be raising the strong views you expressed about the impact on frontline services in Oxfordshire with the Chancellor, Treasury ministers and officials.
We share the clear view you expressed to the Local Government Association in July 2009 that local government is officially the most efficient part of the public sector
In your letter to the Leader of Oxfordshire County Council you offered to ‘initiate a further dialogue with advisers in the Number 10 Policy Unit’ – an offer I’m sure you will make to all Council Leaders irrespective of political persuasion.
As Leader of Kirklees Council, I would very much welcome the opportunity to meet with your Number 10 Policy Unit and discuss how to deal with the cash reduction we have received in our settlement from your Government.
In Kirklees, we have had to make savings totalling £115million over the 2011-16 period and we still need to find a further £46m over the 2016-19 period. This means our total savings requirement from 2011 to 2019 is about £160m, which is the equivalent of £20m savings every year for eight consecutive years.
I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible so that we can benefit from any helpful insight the Number 10 Policy Unit can offer in relation to the Comprehensive Spending Review of November 2015.
Yours sincerely
Re: Number 10 Policy Unit dialogue on budget reductions
I noted with interest your letter to Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council.
I also note references you made in the letter to the wider issue of significant reductions to the settlement for local government made by the Coalition government you led between 2010 and 2015 and the Conservative administration you now lead.
I welcome your concern about the impact of Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s cuts in frontline services in communities across the country. I trust you will be raising the strong views you expressed about the impact on frontline services in Oxfordshire with the Chancellor, Treasury ministers and officials.
We share the clear view you expressed to the Local Government Association in July 2009 that local government is officially the most efficient part of the public sector
In your letter to the Leader of Oxfordshire County Council you offered to ‘initiate a further dialogue with advisers in the Number 10 Policy Unit’ – an offer I’m sure you will make to all Council Leaders irrespective of political persuasion.
As Leader of Kirklees Council, I would very much welcome the opportunity to meet with your Number 10 Policy Unit and discuss how to deal with the cash reduction we have received in our settlement from your Government.
In Kirklees, we have had to make savings totalling £115million over the 2011-16 period and we still need to find a further £46m over the 2016-19 period. This means our total savings requirement from 2011 to 2019 is about £160m, which is the equivalent of £20m savings every year for eight consecutive years.
I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible so that we can benefit from any helpful insight the Number 10 Policy Unit can offer in relation to the Comprehensive Spending Review of November 2015.
Yours sincerely
