COULD the City of Liverpool be declared bankrupt within just two years?
Mayor Joe Anderson revealed yesterday how he spelled out the stark warning to David Cameron when the Prime Minister visited Liverpool a few weeks ago.
Liverpool, says the Mayor, will not be able to fund its legally mandatory obligations within that time frame because of cuts in government grants.
52,000 Liverpool families will be hit by the bedroom tax and face paying more from their benefits
The money the council will have then will all go on supporting critical adult services, Mayor Joe warns. It will, he fears, mean fatalities among the most vulnerable citizens in this city.
At a media briefing, answering questions posed by Liverpool Confidential, the Mayor of Liverpool revealed, for the first time, details of what was said when he met Mr Cameron on the PM's "secret" cloak and dagger visit to Liverpool a few weeks ago.
Mayor Joe handed him a list of the consequences of punishing cuts. At Liverpool Confidential's request, the Mayor agreed to give details of that communication – and as of today there is NO response to Mayor Joe's plea from Number 10.
This is what the Mayor told Mr Cameron:
* Spending power in Liverpool, because of cut backs, has been cut by a staggering £252 per person – compared to the average £60 – even less in the wealthier south of England.
* Over the lifetime of the Coalition Government, Liverpool's rate support grant will have been cut by 52 per cent - starving Liverpool of a crucifying £283m.
* 52,000 Liverpool families will be hit by the bedroom tax and face paying more from their benefits.
* The case-load of benefit claimants in Liverpool – at 83,000 – is the highest ever.
* 70 per cent of Liverpool graduates quit the city after receiving their degrees because there are no jobs for them here.
Taking a cue from the television programme Secret Millionaire, the Mayor has urged the Prime Minister to send one of his generals to Liverpool to spend some months here and capture a realistic picture of the impact of the devastating cuts. So far there is no queue forming at Euston of willing volunteers.
Joe Anderson: 'People have
a right to be angry. I am'The Mayor's briefing was called to outline the latest phase of likely spending cuts to be presented to the city council later in February. These will amount to £32m.
As options run out the Mayor and his deputy, Paul Brant, said they will be facing the needs to make more savings in coming years - £40m in 2014, £32m in 2015 and £38m in 2016.
This is a selection of some of the measures put forward:
* A review of public libraries.
The council will have to pay £2m a year for the new Central Library because their hands are tied by a PFI contract signed by the previous Lib Dem administration. This could lead, next year, to the closure of half of the city's libraries.
* The municipal golf courses at Allerton and Kirkby – losing £300,000 a year – will be reviewed.
Everyone playing a round of golf is subsidised to the tune of £5 by the council. The Mayor hopes private operators will take over or the losses met by increased green fees. But he says if all else fails he'll consider selling the land, possibly for housing.
* The Youth and Play Service, sheltered housing wardens and homeless hostels will all be hit. Four heavily subsidised children's nurseries will be sold to save £800,000 a year.
* About 400 council jobs are at risk, but many are likely to be switched under the TUPE rules or redeployed.
The Mayor said he wants to avoid compulsory redundancies.
* To cap it all, Council Tax will be going up by 1.8 per cent in April.
The £400,000 generated by this increase will be channelled into a newly created Mayor's Poverty Action Group. The Council Tax for Band A householders will mean paying £15.70p more.
Mayor Joe described the process as “horrendous”, and he is already preparing for an onslaught when the city council meets this month to discuss the programme.
He commented: “People have every right to be angry because I am as well.”
More information about the budget can be found on the council's website, here
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