“I completely agree with Labour's vision for Local Government” Councillor Eileen Cartie.

 

Having read Keir Starmer's speech to the Local Government Association Councillor Eileen Cartie of Wensleydale Ward in the Town of Blyth told us that: “I completely agree with Labour’s vision for the future of Local Government, single year funding program’s and all decisions made secretly in Whitehall to ensure that control of local issues are not managed locally and councils are forced to vie with each other to secure funding for infrastructure projects is no way to gain traction towards levelling up England”.

“With the local government pay mechanism being wholly centrally managed by the vagaries of austerity’s working class ‘Project Poverty’ were now leaving employees 20% worse off in real terms than in 2010. Its making recruitment of the highly skilled workforce we require to ensure we can move forward as an industry almost impossible and when we recruit, many of the plugs of the projects we have recruited for have been stripped from the government’s completely negative agenda, take the A1 updating in Northumberland as a prime example, its on, its off, its on, its off its seems we have Government directing local government by whichever way the wind is blowing on Wednesday’s, not for and by what local people need”.

In Keir’s speech he points towards the Government dooming its own levelling up ambitions leading to failure of local ambition and "squandering" the potential of much of the country. Decisions should be made "as locally as practicable" as part of a new partnership between Labour and local government. "A new wave of powers devolved to help grow local economies".

He also said  "An end to the uncertainty of one-year funding settlements, and more stable funding to allow councils to plan. More discretion for metro mayors and local government to spend their budgets how they see fit. No more pitting council against council for pockets of cash."

“I fully agree with Keir’s and Labour’s vision for a fitter, better understood by the electorate and visionary future for Local Government where council’s can work together to benefit people and not have to work undercover to ensure the council next door doesn’t get the funding before you do”.