Michael Gove came out in the press to warn councils that the agreed £500m extra he has been instructed to dole out won't save Councils from going under this year, as most who receive the cash will have it sucked from their purse immediately by care services which is grossly underfunded in the cinderella fashion yet its ugly sisters are dragging down councils nationwide following dreadful austerity hits over the last 13 years.
So many councils are in difficulty that bodies which have relied on them for their own funding are queuing around the block to get a last piece of the action before the bottom falls from their own as well as their former council sponsors' pants.
Arts programming, housing renewal, theaters, community centres, youth assistance, sports delivery etc With many councils having to close buildings people have come to rely on as the cash runs out, listed building maintenance as well as highways repairs, services to children, country parks, drainage, road sweeping and some refuse activities will be reduced to the minimum nationally.
Leaders of Councils some of whom have been taking a similar route to the Ostrich under pressure have now had to shake off the sand, sit up and take notice as some of the cleverer humps on their backs strike out like rattlesnakes to take the last of Councils cash reserves to have their little bit of ‘Little Britain Guaranteed to get the scrapings from the bottom of the barrel.
In Northumberland the noise is coming from those who like to run places but can never be bothered to put themselves up for election as people like them may put the bite on, and in their dreams they know how bad they really are.
In Northumberland it appears that the codgers social media run around has located Civic Societies as the agents of bone picking and have allegedly written en-masse to Councillor Glen Sanderson and his unsmiling boss Councillor Dicky Wearmouth with demands which are beyond the pale’.
It appears that Hexham Civic Society who have relied on the local town council for help over recent eons are now struggling and they feel stymied thay can’t get help or cash to aid the Queens Hall or the now abandoned bus station in the Town as the town council is as badly off as the County Council as its run by the same Tories who have wasted millions on and at County Hall.
Social Media has also exposed that Scottish Councils Involved in the Borderlands projects allegedly appear to be sitting on £8m needed to gap fund Berwicks new theatre build. It's been noted that Berwicks civic society expect that Councillors Wearmouth and Sanderson find that cash and quick but as has been reported in the mainstream press they have dwindled the last of their once vast reserves and can’t assist those who now are causing them problems.
Other societies are also hammering on County Halls doors and it's been said by social media wags that Councillor Wearmouth now wishes he had upgraded the fall-out shelters at County Hall when he was spending £millions of public funds refurbishing this now empty Council Office block so that he and Glen can while away a few months playing monopoly with bank of toytown cash until May 2025 when people may have forgotten their names and they can slip out under the cover of darkness and hope some elite landlord will rent them a hovel in a distant wasteland.
NOTES
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/warning-more-local-councils-go-31959629
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/councils-michael-gove-government-mps-prime-minister-b1133801.html
https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/politics/council/concerns-raised-over-ongoing-use-of-northumberland-councils-financial-reserves-4482224
usable reserves or general reserves - extra money that is not allocated and is available for day-to-day spend, there was £199 million in 2017, which has now fallen to £44 million.
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/northumberland-labour-hit-back-claims-28493557
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