£15 Billion - But not for Local Government
The following looks at the impact on recent Lib Dem Conference announcements on Sutton.
Vince Cable, the Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor is looking for £15 billion changes to government expenditure to pay for Personal Care for the elderly, abolition of tuition fees and increased pensions. These were all 2005 Lib Dem election pledges, which the Economist described at the time as money for the "middle class welfare state" as the biggest gainers would be people who currently lose out from means tests that are aimed to benefit poorer students and pensioners. However quite a few better-off Sutton residents would benefit from these proposals.
This £15 billion change to public expenditure is required as the Lib Dems through their conference vote have now in effect limited their proposed tax take and thus need to find other ways to fund their pledges. If the proposed Green Taxes are effective in changing behaviour and as a result reducing the tax take, Ming Campbell admitted to Jeremy Paxman that they would then have to look at other ways of raising money to offset this potential reduction. No wonder they need to find at least £15 billion from current government expenditure!
As up to three quarters of government expenditure goes on salaries, up to 500,000 public sector jobs might be affected by the proposed shift in money. This would be a potential disbenefit to some Sutton residents.
In terms of local government, there do not seem to me any proposals for extra expenditure for local government, so when Lib Dem Councillors bemoan the Labour Government (which has allowed Sutton budget to increase by up to £100 million in the last 9 years - a 30% real terms increase) they should remember that a Lib Dem Chancellor is unlikely to be any more generous as they want to commit £15 billion elsewhere rather than on local government!
Vince Cable, the Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor is looking for £15 billion changes to government expenditure to pay for Personal Care for the elderly, abolition of tuition fees and increased pensions. These were all 2005 Lib Dem election pledges, which the Economist described at the time as money for the "middle class welfare state" as the biggest gainers would be people who currently lose out from means tests that are aimed to benefit poorer students and pensioners. However quite a few better-off Sutton residents would benefit from these proposals.
This £15 billion change to public expenditure is required as the Lib Dems through their conference vote have now in effect limited their proposed tax take and thus need to find other ways to fund their pledges. If the proposed Green Taxes are effective in changing behaviour and as a result reducing the tax take, Ming Campbell admitted to Jeremy Paxman that they would then have to look at other ways of raising money to offset this potential reduction. No wonder they need to find at least £15 billion from current government expenditure!
As up to three quarters of government expenditure goes on salaries, up to 500,000 public sector jobs might be affected by the proposed shift in money. This would be a potential disbenefit to some Sutton residents.
In terms of local government, there do not seem to me any proposals for extra expenditure for local government, so when Lib Dem Councillors bemoan the Labour Government (which has allowed Sutton budget to increase by up to £100 million in the last 9 years - a 30% real terms increase) they should remember that a Lib Dem Chancellor is unlikely to be any more generous as they want to commit £15 billion elsewhere rather than on local government!
posted by Charlie Mansell at 10:56 am
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