‘We need support now’ - Leading South Tyneside councillor calls for government financial help
A top South Tyneside councillor is calling on the government to help ease the financial pressure on the local authority.
One of South Tyneside’s leading councillors has called on the government to give local authorities the financial support to help protect local services and meet the rising demand for them.
Councillor Susan Sybenga, who is the Lead Member for Finance and Resources and South Tyneside Council, has stated the the government’s Budget announcement on Wednesday, October 28, “needed to recognise” the financial pressures that councils are facing.
Some of the standout points from Chancellor John Healey’s Budget were a 3.9% rise of the national minimum wage and national living wage, increasing the threshold for small business rate reliefs for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors and 20 million households will receive a £100 energy payment.
Calls for financial help for local authorities
Cllr Sybenga has stated that while the Budget will offer some help to households and local businesses, it didn’t ease the rising financial pressure on local authorities.
She said: “Today’s Budget needed to recognise the very serious financial pressures facing councils like ours.
“It also needed to protect the essential services our communities rely on.
“Some measures in the Budget will offer welcome help to households, particularly as we head into winter, and support for local businesses, including our fantastic hospitality sector.
“There were also announcements on public services, social care and giving more financial powers to local areas.
“We will look closely at what these announcements mean for South Tyneside.
“The key question is whether they give councils like ours the financial support we need now to protect services and meet rising demand.”
‘Exceptional Financial Support is becoming a very real prospect’
Cllr Sybenga has revealed that Exceptional Financial Support is becoming a “very real prospect” for South Tyneside Council to keep essential services running.
She commented: “Like councils across the country, South Tyneside is facing growing demand and rising costs for essential services.
“Government funding is not keeping pace with those pressures.
“Difficult decisions and vital investment have been delayed in the past. This has allowed problems to build and made them more costly to put right.
“Problems do not disappear when difficult decisions are delayed. They grow, they cost more and, in the end, residents pay the price.
“The Council is facing these challenges head-on. We are tightening financial controls, modernising how we work, reviewing spending and taking the difficult decisions needed to put the Council on a more stable footing.
“We take responsibility for dealing with the position now but action by the Council alone cannot close a gap of this size.
“Exceptional Financial Support is becoming a very real prospect.
“This would not be a bailout or free money. It could mean borrowing more simply to keep essential services running.”
‘The people of South Tyneside deserve a fair deal’
Cllr Sybenga also highlighted that the borough cannot raise as much through council tax as other areas and called for support to help stabilise council finances.
She added: “South Tyneside cannot raise as much through council tax as wealthier areas. Yet our communities have some of the greatest need and highest demand for essential services.
“Our need is greater, but our ability to raise money locally is weaker. That is fundamentally unfair and the Government must address it.
“We need support now to help stabilise council finances.
“The people of South Tyneside deserve a fair deal. We will continue to make their case clearly and strongly to the Government.”