AADHIKARonline Lines against CONDEM CUTS [2]:
"Eric Pickles,
A word short of fickle.
CONDEM cuts fanatic
Eric may be a lunatic
Not so long ago
Eric bared his ego
As huge as his greed
Thatcherism his creed
Eric scarcely knows shame
Grab wot you can is his game
With his heavy burden of cuts
Eric on TV is uttering nuts
…”
0955 GMT
Tuesday
14 December 2010
from the web site of INSIDE HOUSING
Poor areas hit by local government cuts
Some of the poorest areas of England will see the most severe local government funding cuts next year.
Communities secretary Eric Pickles announced yesterday that the average cut to local authority budgets in 2011/12 would be 4.4 per cent, with the highest being 8.9 per cent.
He said the cuts had been managed to focus resources on the most vulnerable groups.
However analysis of the figures has shown some of the most deprived areas, such as Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Islington, will be hit with the most substantial reductions.
Questions were also raised about the figures used by Mr Pickles.
The figures he quoted in parliament include other grants and income councils receive. The actual reduction in formula grant is greater, at 9.9 per cent in 2011/12 and 7.3 per cent in 2012/13.
Mr Pickles said an extra £30 million has been transferred from the Communities and Local Government department to local authorities to mitigate the cuts. A grant of £85 million is being made available to councils in 2011/12, and £14 million in 2012/13, to further reduce the damage.
‘I have sought to achieve a fair and sustainable settlement for local government by listening to what the local government community has asked for,’ Mr Pickles said.
‘This will be a progressive settlement and fair between different parts of the country.
‘We have focused resources on the most vulnerable communities with significant social challenges.
‘These are often the areas which are most reliant on government grant: so equal grant reductions would leave the poorest worst off.’
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