At Wednesday’s Council meeting a Labour amendment to a Green motion titled ‘Hope Beyond Austerity’ said that Labour,
“Does not accept that there has been a return to austerity under the current Government”
Following the Council meeting Green Councillor Alexi Dimond who represents the Gleadless Valley Ward said,
“I am glad the council voted this statement down.”
“Is Austerity continuing? Ask someone in receipt of benefits. In her Spring Statement Rachel Reeves introduced £5 billion in welfare cuts. This is expected to push a further 250,000 people into poverty. So not only is austerity continuing for people in receipt of benefits, it is getting worse under a Labour Government.
“There is still no movement yet from the Government on whether the 2 child benefit cap will be lifted. Lifting the cap is estimated to take 400,000 to 470,000 out of poverty but Labour continues to ignore calls to lift it.
“So for the most vulnerable Austerity continues and for the public services that people rely upon it isn’t any better, in fact it is getting worse.”
“In their submission to Rachel Reeves ahead of the budget the Local Government Association said;
‘While funding levels have increased in recent years, the cuts of the 2010s are far from fully reversed. Core Spending Power remains 16.4 per cent lower in real terms in 2025/26 compared to 2010/11.
Cost and demand pressures are unrelenting, particularly in key demand-led services such as children’s social care, adult social care, homelessness and home-to-school transport for children with special educational needs. Despite budget growth in these areas in recent years, annual spending pressures continually outstrip budgeted resources, leading to annual overspends:’
They go on to say,
‘Prior to the 2025 Spending Review the LGA estimated that councils faced a funding gap of £8.4 billion by 2028/29, compared to 2023/24.’
“That is not the end of austerity, it is the expansion of austerity under a Labour Government.
“So in Sheffield if Austerity is over as Labour say. I expect we won’t be asked to make any savings, efficiencies or cuts in the next Council Budget? The reality is very different.
“For the 2025/26 budget, the council has a target of achieving £58.5 million in savings. Overall, the council is working to close a four-year budget gap of approximately £69 million by identifying savings and additional income to offset rising cost pressures.
“But not in Labour’s world. Looking through their red-rose-tinted spectacles everything is rosy and austerity is over.
“Only when the last foodbank closes, when we don’t have to cut our budgets every year, when the government stops cutting vulnerable peoples benefits, when we no longer have thousands on council house waiting lists and in homeless accommodation. Then come back and try telling us that austerity is over.”
