{"id":64395,"date":"2015-11-19T10:42:33","date_gmt":"2015-11-19T10:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=f21de3008c836b5dc639b8fd9fdd5fba"},"modified":"2015-11-19T10:42:33","modified_gmt":"2015-11-19T10:42:33","slug":"press-release-councils-have-over-22-billion-in-reserves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=64395","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Councils have over \u00a322 billion in reserves"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>In the last 15 years, the amount held by local authorities in their non-ringfenced reserves has increased significantly \u2013 by nearly 170% in real terms.<\/p>\n<p>Communities Secretary Greg Clark said that he recognises the need for councils to be responsible with taxpayers\u2019 money and save for the future but they should also make efficient use of their assets and resources to best meet the needs of their local communities.<\/p>\n<p>Communities Secretary Greg Clark said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>With local government accounting for a quarter of all public spending, it is right that they are called on to play their part in dealing with the deficit.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s figures show how they are well placed to do so, with local authorities holding \u00a322.5 billion held in non-ringfenced reserves \u2013 up 170% in real terms over the last 15 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">As we continue to secure our country\u2019s economic future and cut the deficit, now is the time to make efficient use of their assets and resources to provide the services local people want to see.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 id=\"further-information\">Further information<\/h2>\n<p>Today\u2019s figures show that over the past year, local authorities added nearly \u00a31 billion more to their non-ringfenced reserves \u2013 taking the total to \u00a322.5 billion.<\/p>\n<p>This is up from the \u00a313 billion local authorities held in 2010.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/statistics\/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-in-england-2014-to-2015-final-outturn\">local authority revenue expenditure and financing statistics<\/a> include this statement: <\/p>\n<p>In real terms from 2000-01 to 2014-15, revenue expenditure (local authority spending) has risen by 20.5%, government grants awarded to local authorities have risen by 21.1%, and Council Tax has risen by 21.4%. In real terms, non-ringfenced reserves have increased by 169.9% from 1 April 2001 to 1 April 2014. <\/p>\n<p>Public satisfaction with local services has increased over the past 5 years.<\/p>\n<div class=\"contact postal-address\" id=\"contact_40\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h3>Office address and general enquiries<\/h3>\n<div class=\"vcard contact-inner\">\n<p class=\"adr\">\n<span class=\"street-address\">2 Marsham Street<br \/>\n<br \/>\nLondon<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"postal-code\">SW1P 4DF<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"email-url-number\">\n<p class=\"contact_form_url\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Contact form<\/span><br \/>\n              <a href=\"http:\/\/forms.communities.gov.uk\/\">http:\/\/forms.communiti&#8230;<\/a>\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">General enquiries:  please use this number if you are a member of the public<\/span><br \/>\n              030 3444 0000\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"contact \" id=\"contact_171\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h3>Media enquiries<\/h3>\n<div class=\"vcard contact-inner\">\n<div class=\"email-url-number\">\n<p class=\"email\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Email<\/span><br \/>\n              <a class=\"email\" href=\"mailto:press.office@communities.gsi.gov.uk\">press.office@communities.gsi.gov.uk<\/a>\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Please use this number if you&#8217;re a journalist wishing to speak to Press Office<\/span><br \/>\n              030 3444 1201\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New figures published today show that England\u2019s 444 local authorities hold \u00a322.5 billion in non-ringfenced reserves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64395"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64395\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}