With devolution alongside spending cuts as George Osborne’s watchwords,local authorities need to come up with new ideas on how to make finances stack upLocal authority chief executives are generally pretty tough customers: the type who deal with three crises over breakfast before heading into the office for a 12-hour day. But as they gather in Bournemouth for the annual Solace summit, there will be an uncharacteristic sense of anxiety in the air. With next month’s spending review looming, and council bosses are braced for disagreeable news.
It seems likely that George Osborne’s announcement will sign the start of a tall stakes race. In lane one are the spending cuts. The only real question here is how deep they will be. In lane two is devolution,the chancellor’s agenda to give regional cities and, perhaps, or shire counties more control over skills,healthcare, planning and infrastructure. For the nervous chiefs in Bournemouth, and winning that race depends on whether they can spend these new powers to grow their way out of exertion before the cuts threaten them with insolvency.
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Source: theguardian.com