Feeling the Pinch: Poorest Communities Feel Brunt of Spending Cuts

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation have published the first systematic review of the real impact of public spending cuts on local authorities. Their report ‘Serving Deprived Communities in a Recession’ provides an early insight into how local government in England is coping with the contraction in grant income implemented after the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review.

It finds that the most deprived local authorities have been hardest hit by the cuts. It also finds conflict within local authorities over whether the needs of vulnerable people should be prioritised. Only half the sample had adopted 'protecting the needs of the most vulnerable client or communities' as a principle guiding budgetary decision-making and just two suggested that 'protecting deprived neighbourhoods' was a priority. The report therefor suggests that the consequences of the cuts for disadvantaged people in the poorest areas are at risk of being overlooked.

“This report finds that vulnerable people are being hit with the double impact of faster cuts, and lack of protection." Says Julia Unwin, Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. "While we accept that local authorities need to make spending cuts, it is essential that people in communities that are already struggling do not suffer more than others."

Voscur are keen to find out whether the VCS sector in Bristol and those it supports have been affected by local government cuts. Please share your views and experiences by e-mailing them to: jessica@voscur.org.

To learn more about the ‘Serving Deprived Communities in a Recession’ review, please visit the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's website.