Cuts round-up
The government has cut central grants to local councils by £1.166 billion. The government say that no council would see their grant drop by more than 2%. But at the same time they have imposed a one-year freeze on council tax rises. That may be repeated next year. In Scotland the SNP-led government froze council tax for three years from 2000. In any case huge cuts are being made everywhere. Some of the councils facing the biggest cuts in central funding are Birmingham (£12.6 million), Liverpool (£9 million), Kent (£8.7 million) Essex (£7.5 million) and Durham (£6.3 million). In many places...