National Audit Office's local government financial data including Broxtowe invites as many questions as it answers, so let's have a council budget 'Teach-in Day'

The National Audit Office has published a report, Financial sustainability of local authorities: (a) 2018 visualisation, relating to local government finances covering the period 2010/11 – 2016/17. Unfortunately it is all percentages and not actual amounts of money. On the plus side you can compare Broxtowe with Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County Council, albeit very different beasts. I have extracted some data which I will turn into tables over the next few days.

In the meantime if you have missed this story in the news media or don't have a weblink, follow this link.

The following quote from the report's introduction delivers the message loud and clear. It is that local government and local communities who have paid the price of the financial crisis, together with those on low incomes, the vulnerable and disadvantaged. To all these people local services matter!

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government measures the impact of reducing government funding on local authority income via ‘revenue spending power’. This indicator captures the main streams of government funding to local authorities alongside council tax. We found that nationally revenue spending power fell by 28.6% in real terms from 2010-11 to 2017-18. If council tax is removed, our analysis shows that government funding fell in real terms by 49.1% from 2010-11 to 2017-18.

Here is a comparative table (click on table to enlarge).

If I had the time I would request the financial data which has been used to compile these percentages (which all appear in the report). There has been talk of Broxtowe Borough Council's financial problems. What this comparative suggests is that Broxtowe appears to be in no worse position than Nottingham or the county council.

Notice how percentage reserves have increased and you can see why this data matters in money terms. I will have a look at Broxtowe. What the figures do show is that Nottinghamshire County Council has a far lower level of reserves (in percentage terms) than Broxtowe and Nottingham, which probably helps explain the enthusiasm among some county councillors for the creation of a unitary county council (an idea since dropped, for the time being at least).

That said, the county council spends (in percentage terms) 64.6% of its budget on adult & child social care, whereas the city spends 54.5%. At this rate, as the news media tells us every few days (so it seems), the county and city will soon have little money to spend on anything else!  

Some the data is less complete for comparative purposes so I will just refer to Broxtowe when it comes to loss of Government funding and spending power.

Between 2010/11 and 2017/18 Government funding to Broxtowe fell by 62.9% and, as I understand it, will continue to fall until it reaches 0%. I'm sure when this will happen. In real times this equals 42.6% and council tax lost 3.2% of its spending power in Broxtowe during the same period.

It gives me a headache just trying to comprehend what is actually happening. We all need to understand because it is that important!

Perhaps the Labour Party might like to organise a kind of 'Council Budget Teach-in Day' a few weeks before the Borough Council elections (one day in Beeston/Stapleford and one day in Eastwood/Kimberley) with stalls and data based on services. It could well attract much need media attention!

For council tenants there could be a stall with info on 'Where does you rent go?' looking at the housing budget.  Another for leisure and parks. Then there's Environmental Services. You get the idea. Once in power the Borough Council can take over the days.

Residents can be asked for their views so that changes can be planned for. Holding budget consultations in October/November is far too late and only serves to show how little interest have in their own 'public consultation'!