17 February 2011
Council leaders have criticised the Home Office for delaying an announcement on further cuts to Community Safety Partnerships until after most local authority budgets have been set.
In a letter sent to all English councils today Home Secretary Teresa May said funding for the scheme would be reduced to £28.8m from April 2012. This comes after another delayed announcement last month from the Home Office revealing that funding for the partnerships would be cut from £71.2m in 2010/11 to £56.8m from April this year.
The LGA is angry that today’s notification has come after most town halls have set their budgets for 2011/12.
Mehboob Khan, chair of the LGA’s safer and stronger communities board, said: ‘The Home Office’s failure to fully inform councils of these drastic cuts in time for future budget setting is unacceptable. Town halls have been consulting with residents and making tough decisions for some time. For a government department to hold back crucial information makes this already difficult process almost impossible.
‘Councils knew the cuts were coming and have planned ahead. However, if they had all the information when necessary, it would have been a lot easier to plan and minimise disruption to the vital services delivered by community safety partnerships.’
A Home Office spokesman said the funding cut was necessary to reduce the budget deficit.
‘By improving efficiency, driving out waste, and increasing productivity we can maintain a strong police service, a secure border and effective counter terrorism capabilities whilst delivering significant savings.
‘That is why this funding is non ring-fenced to allow local government to allocate it where it is most needed.
‘Local communities and organisations will be able to benefit from a massive transfer of power from Whitehall to local communities,’ he said.
