2013 Budget

Budget Supplement Winter 2012-13 | 01

GREENLEAF
Recent data analysis by the Guardian* shows that, when it comes to cuts, Brighton & Hove is the worst-hit council in the southeast of England ... by a large margin. Its also one of the most aected in the country. The Guardians data experts mapped cuts for the whole of England, authority by authority, and showed that while all other councils in the south east face cuts of less than 50 per head of population, Brighton and Hove faces up to a massive 200 per head, as much as double the threat hanging over cities in the south, such as Portsmouth or Southampton. Appeal against cuts

CUTS SPECIAL
Central government funding cuts - Brighton and Hove worst hit in South East

Government singles out Brighton & Hove for cuts

Jason Kitcat, leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, has written to Eric Pickles, the Conservative Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government, appealing against the cuts to Brighton and Hove, which he says has been singled out for austerity. "We couldnt have made the point plainer to Mr Pickles that this city has been unfairly targeted, said Councillor Kitcat.
* Nov 14, 2012, online

This city has been unfairly targeted

The Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP

Photo: Dept. for Communities and Local Government

Data compiled by Newcastle City Council and published in the Guardian

Why a 2012 tax freeze created cuts in 2013-14

In February 2012, opposition parties in Brighton & Hove overturned Green proposals for a tax rise, largely paying for the freeze by creating a 3.66m hole in the 2013 budget. Thats now coming back to hurt the city, increasing the government cuts by as much as 20%.

Its 2% well spent

The Green administration in Brighton & Hove is proposing a modest 2% council tax rise from April 2013 less than ination. The gure was formally announced in draft budget proposals put forward by the Greens at the end of November and the nal decision on the proposal will be made at the Budget Council meeting on February 28th. Coalition government in Westminster and the opposition parties in Brighton & Hove.

The big picture

There is a consensus among Conservatives, Libdems and Labour that public sector cuts are essential, and local government must do its share even if its the lions share. The Green Party fundamentally disputes this view and Green MP Caroline Lucas has consistently campaigned against the idea that austerity cuts are the right thing for our economy, a view now increasingly shared by leading economists and bodies such as the IMF and World Bank, which had previously backed austerity measures. Chair of the Brighton & Hove Green Party Rob Shepherd said: The entire government and Labour strategies in response to the crash have been to cut welfare, benets and essential services while pouring 325 billion of so-called quantitative easing into the bottomless pits of highly protable banks, only to see it disappear without trace. The 20m-25m in Coalition cuts faced by Brighton & Hove this year will have a profoundly negative eect on the city for years to come, yet it represents less than 0.0001% of quantitative easing. Its nothing compared to the tax which ought to be paid in this country by companies such as Starbucks, Google, Amazon and more, and is little more than a bonus for a successful top-ight director or city trader.

Everybodys doing it
Last year about 10% of councils deed the government and increased their council tax. This year, the Local Government Association estimates the number at nearer 20%.

It would add about 43p a week to council tax for the average household
Councillor Leo Littman, who heads up the Greens budget proposals, said: We understand moneys tight for many people at the moment, but 2% is a small contribution, below ination, to help keep essential services going. It would add about 43p a week to council tax for the average household less than the price of a stamp and would make a big dierence in reducing the impact of the cuts that have been imposed by the combined eorts of the

a 2% rise will go a long way towards keeping our libraries open, children's centres running and streets swept
With the scale of cuts we face this year, we cant promise to protect 100% of every service completely. But a 2% rise will go a long way towards keeping our libraries open, children's centres running and streets swept . Its estimated that without the council tax rise, the cuts faced by the city would be around ten per cent worse.

No referendum
The government has decreed that any council seeking a rise above 2% should hold a referendum. This law means it simply isnt worth contemplating: a referendum would cost the city too much. So the council has no plans for a referendum this year.

2%

Voluntary sector protected

Voluntary organisations are vital to Brighton & Hove, and to the individuals and communities they support, and many depend on external funding. In other authorities, the voluntary sector has become a target for cuts but the Greens in Brighton & Hove have maintained council funding for the sector at the previous years level.

2013 Budget
Childrens Centres Saved
No Childrens Centres in Brighton & Hove are planned for closure in 2013-14. This good news for parents and children was announced by the Green administration in November as part of its budget proposals. Committee Chair for Children and Young People, Sue Shanks, said: A question mark had temporarily hung over a few of the smaller Childrens Centre services, but sound nancial management our Childrens Services department during 2012 has resulted in an underspend, which were now proposing should be used to ensure that all Childrens Centres are kept open. Weve always said that opposition and media announcements of their demise were premature, she continued, and now thats proved to be true. Greens have ensured that in 2013 Childrens Centres are saved.

Leading the opposition Cuts nationwide

Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, has been consistently campaigning against Coalition cuts in parliament, in the media and in association with organisations and people most aected by cuts. She is the only MP to speak so unswervingly against the idea that austerity is the right answer to Britains current situation. Instead, she has spent two years oering an economic vision which would see quantitative easing money injected into the real economy instead of being lost to the banks, investment in jobs and the green economy, and a relentless pursuit of tax avoidance, which has suddenly become avour of the month with a government that has run out of alternatives. She has campaigned against cuts to welfare, cuts to housing support, child poverty and in recognition that women are the most aected by cuts. And she is a leader in the ght against The Big 6 Energy Fix. She has also tabled bills in parliament, such as the Tax and Financial Transparency Bill, designed to force banks, companies and trusts to reveal their use of oshore tax havens, and an early day motion calling for local consultation on council tax benet cuts. Indeed, in the light of Labours support of austerity, this has led many to call Caroline the true leader of the opposition.

As Brighton & Hove worries about the Coalition cuts it faces, all local authoriti government will devastate local services and local economies, and could cause

But the beliefs and choices of council administrations can still make a huge dier compares to some other authorities.

The Green manifesto commitment

Brighton & Hove Greens made this pledge at the last council elections. During the next four years the Tory and LibDem Coalition of All The Cuts will rob the city of 84 million that should have been spent on vital services. Things wouldnt have been much better under Labour. Having lost control of the banks, they were intent on making the public pay for their mistakes. The deep cuts will bring hardship for vulnerable men, women and children who rely on essential care and support services provided by the council. It will also mean the loss of many city council and private sector jobs. In these circumstances Green councillors will do their very best for the city. We cant stop the cuts made at source by the Coalition, but we will ght them all the way and we will oppose any attempt to further privatise local services. And this is what were doing.

Smart investments
With a budget approaching 3/4bn, Brighton & Hove is no stranger to lending and borrowing. For example, when cashow allows, it makes short-term loans and investments in the nancial markets, to earn interest, in accordance with the councils ethical investment statement. The council can also borrow in order to invest, if the investment makes commercial sense and the level of risk is low and the project would satisfy an outside auditor. This is why it can borrow 14m from a Government fund, at a low interest rate, and re-loan it at a higher interest rate to the commercially sound i360 project, not only earning money for the city from the interest but potentially seeding further investment and much needed improvement in that part of the seafront. What it cannot do is take out loans to pay for its day-to-day services, such as care, social services or benets, as these services cannot pay back the loan. The council cannot start to rack up an overdraft. And if councillors instructed council ocers to push the council into the red, ocers would simply have to refuse.

Keeping public services public

Greens are opposed to the privatisation of public services. This is opposite to the Conservatives, who are famous for privatising everything, whether its electricity and gas, leading to todays scandalous energy bills, or the railways, which the Greens would renationalise. It is also in contrast to Labour, which brought the prot-making private sector into schools by inventing academies and introduced the discredited Atos to assess sick and disabled peoples tness for work. Greens believe local government services should remain in public control and are committed to keeping Brighton & Hoves existing publicly run council services away from the hands of private prot-making alternatives, despite the pressures of the government and local opposition councillors.

Petition
Name Address

We, the undersigned residents of Brighton & Hove, call on the Westm and to reverse the public service cuts that unfairly target Brighton & hard-pressed people.

Po

Please return to Brighton & Hove Green Party, 39-41 Surre

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Help ght the cuts

Direct Action
Write to Eric Pickles, Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA Tel: 020 7219 4428 Email: picklese@parliament.uk Brighton & Hove Women Against Cuts (bhwac) A group of local women taking action against the Coalition cuts. Women will bear the brunt of the cuts by more than two thirds. http://bhwac.wordpress.com Disabled people against the Cuts Fighting for justice and human rights for all disabled people at a time of austerity and welfare cuts. http://www.dpac.uk.net Black Triangle Galvanising opposition to the current vicious attack on the fundamental human rights of disabled people by the UK Government. http://blacktrianglecampaign.org Keep our NHS public A national organisation (with local branches including Brighton) ghting the consequences of the 2012 Health and Social Care Act. http://www.keepournhspublic.com

uthorities are equally anxious that the level of cuts being imposed by d cause cities simply to stop functioning.

Worth visiting
Diary of a benet scrounger A site to share information on welfare cuts, illness, disability and general, current political thought. http://diaryofabenetscrounger. blogspot.co.uk False Economy A website resource for everyone concerned about the impact of the governments cuts on their community, their family or their job. http://falseeconomy.org.uk

ge dierence to how cuts are applied. Heres a round-up of how Brighton & Hove

Campaigns
UK Uncut Grassroots movement taking action to highlight alternatives to government spending cuts. http://www.ukuncut.org.uk Brighton Stop the Cuts Coalition An umbrella organisation for over 100 groups and individuals ghting the cuts locally. http://stopthecutscoalition.org/brighton Brighton Benets Campaign Organises actions around what is happening to benets and the Workfare. http://brightonbenetscampaign. wordpress.com

Worried about the cuts?

Advice and Support Organisations
Brighton Unemployed Families Centre A wide range of services: a playroom and childcare support and advice, refreshments and a low cost vegan lunch, welfare and benets advice, courses in a wide range of subjects, temporary housing support, volunteer opportunities, computer and Internet access and much more. 6 Tilbury Place, Brighton, BN2 0GY Tel: (01273) 671213 Website: http://www.bucfp.org/ RISE In times of nancial pressure, families can be more vulnerable to instanced of domestic violence. Rise is a charity which supports women, children, young people and families aected by domestic abuse in Brighton & Hove and across West Sussex Call Rise: (01273) 622 822 Jobcentre Plus Facing redundancy or lost your job? To claim Job Seeker's Allowance, Income Support or Employment & Support Allowance, call Jobcentre Plus: Tel: 0800 055 66 88 Textphone: 0800 023 48 88 Brighton Housing Trust (Housing Advice Enquiries) Community Base, 113-117 Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XG. Tel: (01273) 234737 Email: advice@bht.org.uk Website: www.bht.org.uk Brighton & Hove Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) Oering free, condential, impartial and independent advice on managing your nances, including opening bank accounts, problems with bank accounts, benet overpayments, council rent arrears, budgeting and general debt problems. Hove Town Hall, 1 Tisbury Road, HOVE, East Sussex, BN3 4AH Tel: 0845 120 3710 Website: www.brightonhovecab.org.uk East Sussex Credit Union East Sussex Credit Union is a not-forprot savings and loans co-operative focusing on the needs of those on low incomes. Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XG Tel: (01273) 234 858 Email: info@credit-union.org.uk Website: www.credit-union.org.uk Money Advice & Casework Support (MACSS) 24 Old Steine, Brighton, BN1 1EL Tel: (01273) 664000 Advice Line: (01273) 664040 Email: info@macss.org.uk Website: www.macss.org.uk St Lukes Advice Service 18 Exeter Street, Brighton, BN1 5PG Tel: (01273) 549203 Email: info@stlukesadviceservice.org.uk Website: www.stlukesadviceservice.org.uk BHCC website info about changes to benets Website: http://www.brightonhove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=b116 3144 For information only. The Brighton & Hove Green Party does not endorse any third party organisation mentioned in these pages and is not responsible for the contents of third party websites.

e Westminster government to end its attack on local government ghton & Hove and will do so much damage to the city and its

Postcode

Email

1 Surrey St, Brighton, BN1 3PB

2013 Budget How the cuts work

From April 2013, Brighton & Hove faces roughly 20m to 25m in cuts. This will be made up of around 16m to 21m in direct Coalition cuts and nearly 4m cuts inherited from the council tax freeze imposed in February 2012 by the local Labour and Conservative parties. The 2013 cuts eclipse those of 2012. But we wont know until midJanuary exactly how much or which services will be aected. Cuts announcement timetable The nal cuts gure depends on decrees which are arriving from Whitehall throughout most of December, starting with the Chancellors Autumn Statement. These set the actual formulas for cuts and then have to be interpreted locally for Brighton & Hove. Many Coalition cuts will be in specic budget areas. Across much of the budget, the government will cut particular funds, grants or subsidies and give councils little choice. With the remainder, it will simply hack away at the money and leave councils to decide how to spend whats left. The Green administration will digest everything and announce its detailed spending proposals in January and February, to be nally decided by the full council of all three political parties in the city on February 28th. Coalition cuts on the Green minority administration. Every change in service and every saving, even benecial ones, will be called a Green cut. But that simply isnt honest, says council leader Jason Kitcat. I speak regularly with other council leaders of all political persuasions, he says, and we agree that every council in the country is facing cuts far worse than before. The Conservative-LibDem Coalition, unable to balance the books in Whitehall, has this year simply dumped the nations economic problem on Britains local authorities. Passing the buck The Government is hoping no one will notice, come the next election, that its actually Downing Street that is cutting libraries and parks, childrens services, care for the elderly, planning departments, alcohol licensing departments, council housing maintenance, council tax benets, rubbish collection and a host of other council services up and down the country. Theyre doing this by slashing the central government funding that underpins them. Whose cuts? says Councillor Kitcat. Very denitely these are Coalition Cuts. The NHS is responsible for medical services but the rest of the welfare state is largely provided by local authorities, responsible for services such as residential care and home care for the elderly, for children and for other vulnerable people such as those with mental health needs, together with social services.

Budget Supplement Winter 2012-13 | 04

Who will care if we dont?

the city, as many people receiving that care are on extremely low incomes and are also being badly hit by other Coalition welfare cuts, such as benet cuts and the governments universal credit, which the Chartered Institute of Housing has said will leave 400,000 families even worse o than they are now.

The Coalition, unable to balance the books in Whitehall, has simply dumped the nations economic problem on Britains local authorities.
Finalising the cuts Although council tax and spending proposals are drawn up by the Green administration, Greens are a minority of the full council. This means that at the Budget Council meeting on February 28th 2013, which will nalise spending plans for the year, Labour and the Conservatives can together outvote the Greens, provided their proposals balance the books. Having Labour and Tories on the same side may seem odd but thats how they imposed a council tax freeze last February and added nearly 4m to the 2013 cuts. Coalition cuts, not Green cuts Its a safe bet that opposition parties in Brighton & Hove will spend the next year trying to pin

It is simply unsustainable to go on cutting council funding when the adult care system is dangerously overstretched
This is by far the largest area of expenditure for Brighton & Hove City Council, which is almost wholly dependent on national government for funding. As these services form such a large proportion of any councils budget, they are extremely vulnerable to the latest, far-reaching round of Coalition cuts. It is simply unsustainable to go on cutting council funding when the adult care system is dangerously overstretched Conservative Sir Merrick Cockell, leader of Kensington & Chelsea and chair of the Local Government Association, said earlier this year. Nevertheless, it is vital that a high standard of care is maintained in Over the past year, the Green administration in Brighton & Hove has eectively ring-fenced its care budgets, following its pledge to protect vulnerable people in its 2012-13 budget. But the scale of cuts that loom for the next year pose far greater challenges. Councillor Rob Jarrett, Green Chair of the Adult Care & Health Committee, said: As Britains rst Green administration, we are more committed than any other council to protecting these services as far as possible. But with the level of cuts being imposed, that will have consequences for less essential services in the city.
* http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health20442760

The end of local government

Local authorities are fighting for their lives under the bombardment of government cuts raining down on essential council services and benefits. end of local democracy and the eective replacement of local government by Eric Pickless vision of a series of commissioning boards that exist only to buy in privatised services from commercial, protjust defeated last year in plans to become a virtual council. Of course councils need to keep modernising, says Jason Kitcat. But to demolish local government, and with it local democracy, is going too far. And its being rushed through without any democratic mandate this wasnt in any partys general election manifesto. And the biggest problem is that it hurts most those who are most in need. Our greatest outlay isnt libraries, street sweeping or bin collections, important though they are. Its to full our role in the welfare state: we provide care for children and older people, we are responsible for social services, council housing and mental health services, to name a few, and in Brighton & Hove its the council that subsidises the voluntary organisations that do so much good in the city.

Rebels without applause

For the last 27 years, Labour and Tory UK governments have gradually reduced councils powers so that, today, there is no such thing as an illegal budget because no council has the ability to spend money it doesnt have. If central government cuts a councils income, the council gets less money. And it is no more possible for a council to go into the red than for an individual to draw money from a bank that has stopped the debit card. Central government makes cuts and controls council taxes. Councils work with dwindling resources. And if a council rejects the cuts by proposing a budget in the red (a decit budget) or refusing to set a budget at all, councillors dont get ned or dragged o to jail: nothing so dramatic. Whitehall will simply move in and take over, with a real risk that it will set a much harsher cuts-led budget than before. Successive governments have made sure that rebellions cant succeed: they just hurt the residents theyre intended to help

the coalition has a simple aim: to phase out all central government funding of local authorities by 2020
Brighton & Hove is a member of the South East Seven seven top-tier councils that are lobbying local government minister Eric Pickles on the severity of the cuts. This group is in no doubt of the longer term vision for local authorities. Its clear to all of us, says Councillor Kitcat, that the Coalition has a simple aim: to phase out all central government funding of local authorities by 2020. This means nothing less than the driven companies. And we know how well the public benets from service providers such as G4S. This privatising, budget airline approach to council services is not a distant nightmare. Conservatives in Barnet, North London, are already pushing through a controversial no frills council, known as easyCouncil, with far-reaching cuts and 70% of services outsourced, while Conservatives in Suolk were only