Conger

The Bishop of Portsmouth has urged the government not to fund its budget on the back of local councils, nor to shortchange the South of England of its fair share of government spending.

Dr. Kenneth Stevenson told the House of Lords on Nov 13 that Britain was “arguably the most centrally controlled nation in Europe.” There was a danger that underfunded mandates from Westminster would have the perverse affect of harming the social services provided by local councils to the aged and the young.

“To pay for each new programme or initiative, the Government are reducing funding to local authorities, which then will have less money to spend on their core work,” he said.

“As the greater part of this money goes on the social care of adults and children, they are always the worst affected,” Dr. Stevenson argued, noting that the point would soon be reached where local councils would only be able to “afford to do the statutory minimum.”

This would shift more of the burden onto the “voluntary sector where the churches and faith communities are prominently industrious,” he said.

The government’s legislative agenda held “much promise” Dr. Stevenson said, but urged an equitable balance be found between “central and local” government.

He also urged the government to invest more in the development of the Isle of Wight, which he said had the “second lowest wage level in the country and more than 25 per cent of the population on benefits.”

The Isle of Wight Council, he noted was seeking to be “carbon neutral” within a decade, and had “high hopes” of becoming a “major exporter of green energy from tidal power.” However the current Energy Bill needed to be “far more robust, as this kind of project will need careful nurturing, particularly as the South appears to have received what I am told is the worst settlement from government in 20 years,” he said.