Why People and Businesses Should Be Concerned About the State of Councils.

Article written by Nisha Rikhi, BA in Politics and International Relations from University of Sussex, GDL graduate, and current LPC student.

A large swathe of essential services is provided by local councils in this country, many of which are vital to people and businesses. However, the rise in council bankruptcy, council misspending and the reduction in council funding means that the sustainability of these services is now in question. This should be a concern for everyone, but it should especially concern businesses.

Housing

Councils are responsible for housing in their local area. This means that they are in charge of building homes in the area, the planning permission process, and housing people who have become homeless. The shortage of homes is already stretching councils, particularly with regards to their duties to help people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This is because with a shortage of council housing stock, councils have little choice but to put homeless people in temporary accommodation miles from where they work or go to school. The result is that many people are unable to carry on working and employers lose valuable skills and talent. Furthermore, with affordable housing being so scarce, already struggling families are facing a precarious housing situation and the prospect of being unable to afford rent or mortgages in the future. This further increases the risk of more families falling into homelessness or having to live in substandard housing. Therefore, both individuals and employers should be concerned about the council funding and the ability of councils to provide affordable local housing.

Children’s Social Services

Councils have a statutory duty to provide children’s social services. This means that for children who are deemed to be at risk of harm or who are removed from the family home, the council takes on the role of parent. Being a corporate parent means that the council is responsible for housing, feeding, and raising looked after children. They have to provide children’s homes and foster homes for children who are unable to remain within the family. If young people are being failed by the council, then they may not have the education or skills to compete with other applicants in the job market. Furthermore, if they have gotten into trouble with the law, they may have a criminal record which bars them from seeking employment in some industries. This should concern employers because the future success of any business is having the talent and skills to fill job roles in the future.

Adult Social Services

Councils have a statutory duty to provide adult social care. If councils are having to reduce the funding, or worse, go bankrupt, then the existence of those services will be called into question. This means businesses could see dire effects as employees who have to care for adult dependents may be forced to leave the workplace to take up greater caring responsibility. Businesses may also struggle to recruit new employees if they are unable to afford to make flexible working offers to those with caring responsibilities. Businesses should also care about the lack of funding for adult social care. This is because more people are struggling with mental illness and if those people are unable to access adult social care, then it could have serious consequences. People could be signed off sick for considerable periods of time while they wait for treatment. This means that businesses could lose access to talent, struggle to recruit staff or be forced to dismiss staff if the business cannot sustain the wage of an employee who is off sick. Furthermore, a lack of adult social services support for disabled people could result in people not applying for jobs and businesses not being able to retain disabled staff if support services are not accessible to current and potential employees. Therefore, the state of adult social care provided by councils is something that businesses have to worry about because of the effect it could have on the current and future workforce.

School Provision

School provision is a statutory requirement which means that councils have to provide this to children. The council is responsible for ensuring that every child in their county has a school place. However, we know that there are a chronic shortage of special needs places and special needs provision across the country. This is due to the lack of funding that is needed to fulfil the requirements in Education, Health and Care Plans and due to the lack of places in special needs schools. Businesses should be concerned about the lack of funding for special needs provision. This is because if parents are not able to get their children into good schools that meet their special needs, then parents may have to take their children out of school or children may not be able to attend school at all. This means parents may have to give up work or reduce their hours to care for their children. That means that businesses will lose vital staff and talent or be unable to recruit staff because staff are being forced to prioritise caring for children over employment during school hours. Furthermore, businesses could struggle to recruit staff in the future if many potential young people are unable to obtain a decent education and lack the skills to enter the workplace.

Women’s Refuges

Although it is not a statutory service, councils do provide a lot of funding to women’s refuges. In the current climate, refuge services for women fleeing domestic violence are at risk of closure or are facing funding cuts due to economic pressures on council budgets. Businesses should be concerned about the lack of funds available to councils to fund women’s refuges. This is because businesses could have female employees who are victims of domestic violence and are at risk of being seriously harmed or killed. Furthermore, some victims may have to give up work or be forced to hand over their salaries to abusive partners. This means that businesses could lose vital staff and talent and potentially see women impoverishing themselves due to the control of their partner. Sadly, lack of funding for women’s refuges could also see a rise in deaths of women at the hands of violent intimate partners. This shows that everyone, not just businesses, should be concerned about the financial state of councils.

Libraries and Community Services

Although councils do not have to provide non-statutory services, for many people these services are something they rely on. Libraries, youth clubs, museums and community centres are all non-statutory services that could face funding cuts as councils grapple with financial uncertainty. For many people, these services are links to the communities and lifelines for those who depend on them. They are safe spaces that can keep some of the most vulnerable people off the streets and out of trouble. Businesses should be concerned about the lack of council funding for these services because failure to provide these services could have a detrimental effect on the economy and local community. A lack of youth service provision, for example, could lead to more young people committing crime and getting in trouble with the law. This means that businesses could lose access to talent as they may be unable to recruit young people for certain jobs due to those candidates having criminal records. If people are unable to access library services or visit museums, then businesses could see a drop in footfall on the high street if people visit the town centre less frequently.

Citizens Advice Offices

Furthermore, the rise of council bankruptcy means that Citizens Advice offices are closing or at risk of closing. Mansfield Citizens Advice has recently had to close its doors due to a lack of funding and Woking Citizens Advice is facing closure due to the bankruptcy of Woking Council. This means that people are unable to access essential advice and support in their local area. The result of this is that some of the most vulnerable people are left alone to struggle without support with housing, benefits or debt, for example. Businesses will undoubtedly be affected by this. This is because people may start seeking higher wages from employers if they are unable to get support to claim benefits. Employers may find themselves having to dismiss employees if their performance is affected by issues like homelessness or debt. With a swathe of councils from Mansfield and Birmingham to Somerset and Northampton facing financial trouble and possible bankruptcy, the precariousness of Citizens Advice offices is only going to get worse. This will undoubtedly continue to affect people facing employment, debt, benefit and housing problems. Hence, it is clear that not being able to access local advice and support may have a significant impact on both individuals and businesses.

It is clear that the lack of funding in councils has affected their ability to provide essential services to local people. This has clearly impacted on several aspects of life, including housing and employment. It is undeniable that this has the potential to adversely impact businesses, particularly with regards to their workforce. Therefore, it is clear that businesses and people should be deeply concerned about the state of councils.