A candidate for Salford’s Green Party has called for more council funding to help alleviate the cost of living crisis.
Green candidate for the Blackfriars and Trinity Ward in the May 2023 Local Council elections, David Jones, said: “It is essential that local councils, and particularly those like Salford with areas of high deprivation and underinvestment, have the funds necessary to alleviate those immediate cost-of-living pressures.”
According to the Salford city council website, the council’s budget has been reduced by £232m since 2010/11, a decrease of around 53%.
Mr Jones says these budget cuts hamper the council’s ability to effectively support people. He continued: “Local councils are, to a great extent, limited to only being able to provide support that only addresses some of the symptoms, rather than the causes, of the cost-of-living crisis.”
Mr Jones believes that alongside issues around council funding, there is a severe lack of direct government aid available for people who are struggling. He says the £400 energy payment introduced by the government to off-set the rising energy costs this winter has only provided a small amount of relief for some Salford families and the “one-off payment has only temporarily postponed the inevitable.”
“Unless and until permanent solutions are forthcoming, the cost-of-living crisis is going to result in more and more families getting further and further into debt and despair. This will, in turn, lead to the requirement for wider and increasingly costly interventions.”
Mr Jones said he was also concerned about the projected 4.3% decline in real household income and how it would affect residents in Salford as one of the UK’s most deprived areas
He said: “It will hit those with the least disposable income; the poorest, the hardest, and for the longest.
“It can never be fair to impose the biggest burdens on those with the least ability to carry them, whilst those with the deepest pockets and the greatest ability to shoulder those burdens were protected.”
He also criticised the government’s decision to implement some of its proposed spending cuts after the general election. Mr Jones said: “This is kicking the can down the road.
“In all likelihood, there won’t be a conservative government after the General Election. Something, no doubt, that the Chancellor factored in when making the statement to implement £30bn of spending cuts at that time.”
Mr Jones wants Salford City Council to regain the capacity to support its residents through this crisis and feels the government should take responsibility their role in creating a situation in which councils feel they cannot do this.
“Local councils have had their budgets cut by successive governments, and any further cuts would force local councils and essential public services around the country to deny people vital support at this crucial time.”
Recent Comments