Tory communities secretary challenged on £16billion spending cuts

The Local Government Association estimates councils have lost almost £16 billion of funding since 2010, equal to 60p in every pound

Communities secretary Robert Jenrick defended austerity cuts to the public sector finances during a visit to Devon.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government was challenged over a decade of spending cuts.

The Local Government Association estimates councils have lost almost £16 billion of funding since 2010, equal to 60p in every pound.

In Plymouth, Labour council leader Tudor Evans said the cuts had resulted in the “hollowing out” of local government.

Mr Jenrick said when the Conservatives came to power in 2010, they had to make “difficult choices” because Labour had left the economy “in ruins”.

He said the new Tory administration under Boris Johnson had agreed the best local settlement in a decade for 2020/21, with up to £1.5bn extra for children’s and adult social care.

Mr Jenrick said: “the Local Government Association itself warmly welcomed that settlement as putting local authorities on a much sounder financial footing, to continue their important role delivering those local public services that people really depend on.”

The MP for Newark in Nottinghamshire was visiting Devon to support the Conservative candidates in Torbay and Totnes, Kevin Foster and Anthony Mangnall.

Mr Jenrick said south Devon was heading in the right direction with unemployment at a record low and lots of people wanted to move there because it was such a “beautiful and vibrant part of the country”.

He said there were challenges facing the area which is why the Government wanted to invest in it through the £3.6bn Towns Fund, which has seen Torquay invited to develop regeneration proposals for up to £25m of funding.