East Mids hit hard by Localism Bill
Nottingham and Lincoln city councils were hit hard as Eric Pickles announced his Localism Bill. Nottingham will suffer a 8.4 per cent reduction in its government grants next year, losing £29.5m from its budget. In 2012/13, it will lose another £13m – a 4.7 per cent cut. Lincoln will receive a 7.2 per cent cut next year and another 6.1 per cent drop in 2012/13.
The news comes just days after Nottingham City Council issued a memo to all staff outlining proposed changes to terms and conditions.
The document outlined the removal of “senior leadership management group competency based pay”; the introduction of car parking charging for staff and councillors in addition to, and in advance of, the introduction of the Workplace Parking Levy; a reduction in the time spent on the redeployment register from six months to three months; a reduction in redundancy pay from 2.5 times the statutory amount to 1.5 times the statutory payment (statutory payment is a week’s pay capped at £380); freezing incremental pay for two years; and removing contractual sick pay for the first three days of sickness absence.
The council said it hoped the measures could be introduced for the start of the next financial year and that they could save in the region of £4m to £6m.
Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, has said that the Localism Bill will put an end to the hoarding of power within central government and top-down control of communities, allowing local people “the freedom to run their lives and neighbourhoods in their own way”.
The Localism Bill, says Pickles, contains a “radical package of reforms that will devolve greater power and freedoms to councils and neighbourhoods, establish powerful new rights for communities, revolutionise the planning system, and give communities control over housing decisions”.
Pickles added: “The Localism Bill will herald a ground-breaking shift in power to councils and communities overturning decades of central government control and starting a new era of people power.
"It is the centrepiece of what this government is trying to do to fundamentally shake up the balance of power in this country. For too long, everything has been controlled from the centre - and look where it's got us. Central government has kept local government on a tight leash, strangling the life out of councils in the belief that bureaucrats know best.
"By getting out of the way and letting councils and communities run their own affairs we can restore civic pride, democratic accountability and economic growth - and build a stronger, fairer Britain. It's the end of the era of big government: laying the foundations for the Big Society."
There were further cuts across the East Midlands. Derby City Council will see its government grant cut by 5.5 per cent next year, Leicester will suffer a 6.7 per cent cut, and Northampton will see its grant slashed by 7 per cent.
The Localism Bill also outlined plans to have elected mayors in Nottingham and Leicester. Respective council leaders Jon Collins and Veejay Patel will become “shadow mayors” next summer, with a referendum on an elected mayor in each city to be held in May 2012.
