Local Government Finance

Is the Minister aware of the damage he is doing to local government all over the country with massive cuts year on year, while demand increases among the poorest people in our community? By the end of the next financial year my borough council will have had its income cut by 50%. That is a massive cut for an inner-city borough with a very large number of poor children, and a very large number of needs in the social care and many other areas. Can the Minister think for a moment of what the cumulative effect of all this destruction of local government is doing to local communities, to jobs and, in the long run, to the achievement of many people in schools and other places?