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Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove, January 29, 2024
MICHAEL GOVE’S government department will encourage councils in England to sell publicly owned buildings and other assets worth up to £23 billion under plans to plug budget shortfalls.
The plans by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities would give councils greater flexibility to use money raised from asset disposals to pay for day to day spending.
It comes amid a multi-billion-pound crisis in local government funding, with Birmingham City Council, Europe’s biggest local authority, declaring bankruptcy in November. Tory governments have cut local authority funds by over 40 per cent since 2010.
Years of underfunding are eroding Scotland’s local services and deepening inequality in communities, says VINCE MILLS
Liverpool Trades Council has unveiled a ‘People’s Budget’ to fight £56m cuts and council tax rises. DEAN YOUNG reports
LOTTE COLLETT welcomes the arrival of a new party for the left, a vehicle for councils to finally fight for progressive policies on housing, green spaces and public facilities, rather than administering cuts and misery from central government