Blunkett in blast at Clegg over city ‘boast’

In a letter, the Sheffield Brightside MP criticises Mr Clegg for taking credit for the £2bn project to improve roads in the city.

Mr Blunkett also calls on the Sheffield Hallam MP to follow up his apology for abandoning the Liberal Democrats’ pledge on university tuition fees with an admission that councils have taken “a much bigger hit” to their budgets than Whitehall departments.

His letter follows an angry response from Mr Clegg to Sheffield City Council leader Julie Dore who, along with her counterparts in Newcastle and Liverpool, had warned that the Government was risking “social unrest” by forcing cuts in council services.

Mr Clegg had said the coalition was investing “billions” in Sheffield including the £2bn PFI project which promises to end the backlog of repairs to the city’s roads and the City Deal, which transfers significant powers and funding in areas such as skills to the Sheffield City Region.

In his letter, Mr Blunkett says the roads investment was agreed by Labour in 2009, adding: “Your Government have thankfully chosen not to cut this investment as you have on so many other aspects of investment policy in Sheffield, including a two thirds reduction in the spend available from the now defunct Regional Development Agency, in growth and prosperity.

“Incidentally, the City Deal which gives the Sheffield sub-region power to spend money it has already had allocated does not involve new funding, although if you want to stretch a point, it may be possible to identify £4m over the next three years!”

Mr Blunkett says the council is “struggling to maintain the most basic level of service” across a range of areas.