Pickles answers plea for talks over Wirral’s financial crisis

Jun 22 2011 By Liam Murphy

CONTROVERSIAL Communities secretary Eric Pickles is to meet a delegation of senior councillors and officers from Wirral over the authority’s struggling finances.

Mr Pickles has agreed to meet a delegation from Wirral Council to discuss the serious financial situation facing the council.

Leader of the council, Cllr Steve Foulkes, said he was "pleased that Mr Pickles has agreed to meet with us".

He said: "The full impact of the cuts in this year’s budget, and the loss of a fifth of the workforce, is just starting to be felt.

"Wirral took a very big hit this year, partly as a result of Government cuts to the Area Based Grant which was specifically targeted at authorities with the highest levels of poverty and deprivation.

"Wirral’s economy is also more dependent on public sector jobs than more affluent authorities in the South and will suffer again as a result of cuts in public spending elsewhere.

"On top of this, there is a real danger that planned changes to the way Local Government is financed will disadvantage Wirral again.

"I believe Wirral deserves a fairer deal and I will be doing everything I can to use this opportunity to put Wirral’s case forward."

The council was forced to shed a fifth of its workforce and Labour – who took over control of the authority last month – says damaging cuts have been made to services following the loss this year of £51m in Government grants.

The council currently faces a further projected budget gap of almost £21m in their budget for 2012/13.

The authority reacted with some surprise after Mr Pickles agreed to the meeting, following a request by Alison McGovern, MP for Wirral South, in a question put in Parliament during a session focusing on Local Government.

The question came on the back of a letter written to Mr Pickles earlier this month by Wirral’s Chief Executive, Jim Wilkie, at the request of the authority’s ruling cabinet.

Ms McGovern said: "I asked Eric Pickles, Secretary of State, to meet our Wirral Team because a year on from the Osborne Budget we are seeing the real effects of a front loaded budget reduction in Wirral.

"My constituents are worried about care for older people, other public services and the impact of redundancies in our local economy.

"We need to talk to the Government about the year ahead for Wirral."

Earlier this month, it emerged that the Government had refused to meet Sefton Council leaders over the financial cuts earlier in the year.