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Local councils in England are “extremely concerned” that they will not obtain additional funds to resolve the coronavirus.
Richard Watts of the Local Government Association has written to Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick warning him of “extreme cost reduction”.
In his letter, obtained by the BBC, Watts appeals to make sure that the federal government “is still willing to do whatever it takes” to help them.
More than £ 1.6bn has been turned over to native authorities because the outbreak began.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government stated that Jenrick had “been clear that [they] it will support councils to provide services to their communities during the pandemic. ”
The councils face high prices for supporting susceptible individuals, while their fees and charges are declining.
Watts, the LGA chair of useful resources, began his letter thanking the minister for his “hard work on behalf of the local government”, and stated that the measures, along with the funding of £ 1.6 billion and the deferral of funds of business positions, they had been “helpful in providing some stability and certainty.”
But he claimed the money was “insufficient money” and LGA members had heard from the division that “there may be no more funding despite past promises.”
He wrote: “This is having a real impact on the confidence of the councils that they will be given the financial means to overcome this challenge and could lead some to take extreme cost-cutting and rationing measures.”
Mr. Watts stated that he had seen evidence that some welfare authorities had already spent up to 3 times more expenses than grant allocation permits because they anticipated more funds, and the money contributed was already “very small” in contrast with what they need to spend in the high homelessness.
In addition, he said that the council’s financial managers have been delaying the issuance of studies showing that they are “spending beyond [their] means “due to additional financing guarantees.
Watts said there have also been pressures that will transcend the coronavirus outbreak, reminding of a high demand for council welfare and fiscal help.
He stated that the “revenue base is crumbling” for councils, with leisure centers closed, reduced public transportation, and parking charges not entering, in addition to lowering the business fees being charged.
“This loss of revenue represents a real reduction in the resources available for councils to fund services and will mean that, in the absence of compensation, the balanced budgets established by the councils will not be deliverable,” Watts wrote.
He said the “focus point” for the federal government should be to ensure that native authorities have “confidence that the government will support them.”
Mr. Watts concluded his letter by saying: “We would like to urge you and the Chancellor of the Treasury to establish in a clear joint letter of intent that the government is still ready to do what is necessary and provide more funds to the councils in advance . “
And he referred to it as a “commitment to compensate [councils] entirely because of the costs, the net loss of income and the savings that cannot be delivered as a result of this crisis, so that they can continue to focus on providing the answer to the greatest challenge that the United Kingdom and the world have seen in decades, instead to worry about whether they need to start rationing because you can’t get more support. ”
Authorities have stated in advance that it could keep funds for native councils below the assessment.
