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<p>Whilst savings have been made to help tackle the deficit left by the last Labour
Government, they have been over-stated. Local government spending (excluding education)
is actually higher than it was under the last Labour Government as the table below
illustrates:</p><p><em>Local authority net current expenditure (excluding education)
in England (£ million)</em></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>2008-09</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2009-10</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010-11</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011-12</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012-13</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013-14</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£70,870.578</p></td><td><p>£74,705.768</p></td><td><p>£75,956.637</p></td><td><p>£75,000.191</p></td><td><p>£74,807.852</p></td><td><p>£77,063.700</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><sup>Note:
Local government spending on education has structurally fallen due to the transfer
of schools to Academy status, which are not funded through Local Education Authorities.</sup></p><p>We
have not undertaken any assessment of staff morale, as employment decisions are a
matter for local councils as employers. However, residents’ satisfaction is either
the same or has increased according to independent surveys:</p><p> </p><p>• Research
by ICM has found that 57 per cent of the public think that the quality of public services
has improved or stayed the same compared to five years ago. Recycling collections,
parks and open spaces, leisure centres and refuse collections are areas where the
public think services have particularly improved (ICM Research, <em>BBC News Bailout
Anniversary Poll: Attitudes towards public services</em>, September 2013).</p><p>
</p><p> </p><p>• Opinion research by PwC in 2014 has noted: ‘As with our 2013 survey,
almost half of the public we surveyed were unaware of any reductions in local council
services in their area. To some extent, this is a testament to the success of local
authorities to date in focussing on internal efficiencies while protecting the frontline’
(PwC, <em>The Local State We’re In: PwC’s annual local government survey</em>, 2014,
p.7).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>• A Ipsos Mori survey in 2014 has found that two-thirds
(63 per cent) of local residents have said that local authority budget reductions
have not made a noticeable difference to services (Zurich Municipal, <em>A new world
of risk; change for good</em>, July 2014, p.19).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>• The number
of respondents who were very or fairly satisfied with the way their local council
runs things was 69 per cent in October 2010 (LGA, <em>Polling on resident satisfaction
with councils</em>, September 2012). The latest 2014 figures were 70 per cent and
67 per cent (LGA, <em>Polling on resident satisfaction with councils, Full report</em>,
January and July 2014).</p><p> </p><p>This shows the scope for the public sector to
make sensible savings, whilst protecting frontline services and keeping council tax
down.</p><p> </p>
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