Gloucestershire council freezes grant-funded services

Gloucestershire council has decided to freeze spending on grant-funded children’s services in anticipation of government cuts.

Head of children’s services Jo Davidson wrote to colleagues in an email: “To limit the impact of any reductions, it has been agreed that it is wise that all expenditure on grant-related activities should be stopped wherever possible until the position becomes clear.”

A council spokesman told Community Care: “Grant funding is a very significant element of funding for all local authority children’s departments and we do know that local authorities will be asked to find £1.6bn of savings nationally.

“We are taking prudent action to pause spending where possible so that we are able to respond quickly when more details are available.”

Despite the government saying SureStart would be protected, Gloucestershire plans to freeze spending on this programme as well.

“We understand that SureStart has been protected but, as any local authority should, we have asked staff to scrutinise all spend to ensure that it is absolutely necessary,” the spokesman said, adding that funding was being maintained in this area.

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