Northern English cities have borne the heaviest cuts to their budgets as a decade of austerity comes to an end in the United Kingdom, a study out Monday has showed
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2019) Northern English cities have borne the heaviest cuts to their budgets as a decade of austerity comes to an end in the United Kingdom, a study out Monday has showed.
The findings from the Cities Outlook 2019 by the Centre for Cities suggest that worse-off northern cities, like Liverpool, saw on average 20 percent reductions to their government spending.
Cities in more affluent south England, except London, were less badly hit and were able to replace dwindling government grants with charges for services and the like.
The capital saw a reduction in budget spending of 25 percent, the study found, despite being home to 16 percent of the country's population.
In total, UK cities have shouldered nearly three-quarters of all cuts since austerity began in 2009-2010, with an increase in demand for services like social care claiming over a half of their budgets.
The research center said this left cities with little room for bolstering their wider economy. It suggested an urgent social care reform to reduce cities' role as care givers and allowing more freedom in introducing taxes and managing spending.
