Fair Funding Now

Unite leader Sharon Graham is to speak outside Parliament on Monday (16 June) calling for action to save stricken councils during a protest for fair funding for council services. 

Unites “Fair Funding NOW!” campaign highlights that for 15 years local authorities have faced brutal austerity cuts, with frontline workers and services facing the brunt. 

Unite says “This has to stop – It’s time for change!” 

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Local councils are being run into the ground and workers and communities keep being asked to pay the price. Local services keep getting worse – whether it is libraries closing or housing repairs delayed – while council workers keep being hit with real terms pay cuts. Meanwhile, hundreds more local authorities are heading towards bankruptcy while paying inflated interest rates to the Treasury.

“This has to change. Austerity was always a political choice and we can all see that it has failed. This Labour government now needs to do the right thing, restructure the debt and fund local government fairly.” 

Over 50 council workers, including some of those taking part in the Birmingham bin strike, will be at the event, part of Unite’s new Fair Funding Now for Local Government campaign. They will be sharing their stories of working in local government at a time when the sector is in crisis and calling for better funding for local authorities. 

As part of the campaign, alongside Jon Trickett MP, Unite has tabled an early day motion calling on the government to restructure local authority debt. This would future-proof councils against the need to cut jobs, pay, conditions and critical public services.

Unite has also launched a website where supporters can write to their local MP and ask them to support the EDM (Early Day Motion 1245: Restructure of local government debt), which can be found here.

The Fair Funding campaign comes as councils are in crisis after years of severe cuts to public services and jobs. UK local authorities were £122bn in debt as of 2024, with government lenders charging excessive levels of interest to cash-strapped authorities. 

Meanwhile the Local Government Association estimates that councils will still face a funding gap of up to £8bn by 2028-29 and 43 per cent of England’s 317 councils are at risk of bankruptcy.

As local councils have been ‘cut to the bone’, there has been a visible breakdown in public services. Unite believes while cuts may save money in the short term, it leads to problems further down the line.

Unite national officer for local authorities Clare Keogh said: “The time to act on fair funding for local councils is now. Workers and communities across the UK are suffering.

“This grave situation has to stop. The debt urgently needs to be cut or restructured otherwise more local authorities will go bankrupt, putting jobs and conditions on the line. We urge the government to make the right choice by rejecting austerity and choosing to invest in well-funded jobs and public services.”

Unite is calling on people to email MPs and ask them to sign the Early Day Motion and join the Fair Funding NOW campaign. The campaign page is also full of resources and materials to help members spread the word at work and in their communities. 

The protest takes place at 12:30 Monday 16 June on College Green opposite Parliament and there will be a report on Unite Live afterwards.

By Keith Hatch