Sorry local councils do have money they choose not to spend it.
Likewise the NHS spend their money "poorly".
"Austerity" can not be blamed for all societies ill`s if it is caused by bad management.
What number are you looking at with regards the Council?
In your own link on council's:
"Pressures, such as an ageing demographic and population growth, continue to increase demand on services. Significant growth is expected in demand for adult social care, children’s services and waste disposal over the next four years. This growth is in stark contrast to significant cuts in Government funding as a result of ongoing austerity measures. The Authority continues to adopt a proactive approach to managing these demands. This has involved the establishment of a comprehensive Transformation Programme tasked to achieve economy inthe use of resources and a rolling programme of budget reductions.The Authority’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) continues to identify the significant budget reductions needed to achieve a balanced budget. Savings of £43.3m are forecast to be made over the next four years, 2017-2021, with £16.4m to be achieved in 2016/17. Additional savings of £23m will also be required by 2020/21. This is a challenging task considering that savings of £160m have already been achieved in the last seven years".
So they are having to make major savings of £43.3m from 2017-2021 against a base budget of £346.7m. They also added the underspends back but they can't be used for ongoing expenditure as it is a one off additional source of income. Also, Councils are required to keep reserves as a safety net as Councils can't roll over deficits.
Also when it talks about future prospects:
"The state of public finances is likely to signify a continuation of very tight funding for the foreseeable future. Combining this with the objective to minimise council tax means that the Authority will continue to operate within an extremely tight financial environment over the medium term.The Authority’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) agreed in February 2017 is based on a council tax increase of 3.99% for 2017/18, including 2% regarding an adult social care precept agreed by Central Government, followed by annual increases of 3.99% in the following two years and a 1.99% increase for 2020/21. The MTFS assumes that the level of Government funding will declineby a further 47% over the four years of the MTFS. The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s 2015 Autumn statement confirmed that the Government plans to eliminate the current public sector deficit by 2019/20 with significant implications for the public sector. Local Government is the area that continues to face the largest reduction in funding. As a result the Authority faces an extremely challenging financial environment with a requirement to make significant savings over the medium term. The result of the UK European Union referendum in June 2016 to leave the EU has created further uncertainty to public sector funding with some early commentators forecasting that the public sector austerity may continue for a further two years than previously forecast to 2021/22."
Further detail on the major identified risks:
"There is little doubt that the Authority faces the most uncertain and risky financial environment for a generation. There are a number of known major risks over the next few years that could have a significant financial impact on the Authority. These include:
Non-achievement of savings and income targets. The requirement for savings and additional income totals £66m over the next four years of which £23m is unidentified.
Service pressures resulting in an overspend. There are increasing pressures within Adults and Children’s social care. In 2015/16 the children’s placement budget overspent and the acute pressure on national health services is likely to result in higher demand for social care services in the future.
There is a risk that the element of the Better Care Fund that is available to support adult social care services does not continue in the later years of the MTFS.
Public finances continue to deteriorate with the potential for further reductions beyond the four year allocations announced by central government."
And in the detail for future prospects a notable comment on future savings:
"Children and Family Services (£8.1m). This includes reducing costs for social care placements, managing demand and reviewing early help and prevention services."
So major savings will have to be made in Children & Family Services. So where is this money coming from for Youth Services assuming they got any Youth Services to build upon other than Crisis prevention?
Further austerity has affected real term funding for education which has impacted on ways people can get out of gangs through learning.
On the NHS: Point me to the parts that evidence for your comment on the link as it covers a hell of a lot. I see it summarising and making recommendations:
- systemic issues on funding, spending, organisational structure,
- the risk to partnership working (which is relevant to the discussion about Glasgow's approach),
- raiding capital funds to prop up revenue budgets (£1bn in 2017/18),
- requirements to meet targets for the long term funding settlement,
- CCGs/Trusts not understanding local pressures,
- Cuts in Social Services funding (ie. bed blocking) a major threat on NHS budgets,
- combined deficit of £991m across of NHS Trusts in 2017/18, CCGs have a combined deficit of £213m in 2017/18 and that it isn't clear on the underlying position,
- etc etc
And austerity has had an impact on the NHS as evidenced by bed blocking and the cut in Social Care budgets. Also, the underfunding of mental health care which has had a knock on effect on A&E and other NHS services, as well as the Police.
www.walesonline.co.uk
www.theguardian.com
en.m.wikipedia.org
