John Harris does speak an uncomfortable truth when he says that unless Labour significantly increases financial support for local authorities, the impact of austerity will continue to grind down local communities (The streetlights going out over Britain tell a brutal story: austerity isn’t over – it’s getting worse, 17 November). Fourteen years of Conservative budget cuts have resulted in my own local authority plummeting from being one of the highest-performing “beacon” authorities in England to one that is now in debt and heading towards the bottom rung of the ladder.
The closure of children’s centres, care homes and budget cuts in every service area, from special needs education and social care to library services, have resulted in a threadbare support network locally. This is being replicated across the country.
