Council cuts deeper in poorer areas

Official figures show cuts to council funding are on average four times deeper in the poorest areas of the country than the best off, Labour has claimed.

By The Newsroom

Published 19th Dec 2010, 21:22 BST

Shadow Local Government Minister Caroline Flint published analysis by the House of Commons library which she said showed Tory areas were "getting off much lighter".

And she said there was also a large gulf between the fates of authorities in the constituencies of Conservative cabinet ministers and their Liberal Democrat coalition colleagues.

Town hall chiefs are warning of cuts to jobs and services after the Government gave details this week of a 17 per cent reduction in central grants for 2011/12 – the first of a four-year squeeze.

Ms Flint said: "The Tory-Lib Dem Government has chosen to hit the poorest councils hardest, with average cuts for the most deprived communities four times bigger than those in the better off areas. In some cases, the cuts are nearly nine times as big. That's unfair."