Many  council  budgets  are  now  at ‘Breaking Point’ as austerity  has  caused  huge damage   to communities up and
down the UK, with devastating effects on key public services that protect the most defenceless in society – children at risk, disabled children and adults, and vulnerable older people  – and  the  services  we  all  rely  on,  like  clean  streets, libraries, and children’s centres.
Local Government Association Labour has launched petition warning local authorities are at ‘breaking point’.
Harrow has its share of devastating cuts: for example, the council has lost £55 million of central government funding as their Revenue Support Grant has been eliminated entirely.
Harrow schools are facing annual funding pressures of £77,000 for primary schools and £194,000 for secondary schools.  Since 2015, Harrow has suffered a net loss of 105 teachers in its maintained schools owing in part to recruitment and retention issues.
In recognising the overwhelming impact of austerity on the local community, the Labour motion supporting the ‘breaking point’ petition is bound to go through at the forthcoming Harrow council meeting.
Harrow council is also to condemn chief secretary to the treasury’s misleading statement that  the government is “not  making cuts to local authorities”, when all independent assessments of government spending show that this is entirely false.
The council further notes Prime Minister Theresa May’s claim that “austerity is over” despite planning a further £1.3bn of cuts to council budgets over the next year.