Symposium Introduction: Local Responses to ‘Austerity’

Abstract

This introduction to the symposium sets out the context for local government in the United Kingdom at the current time. It outlines the scale of the reductions in funding since 2010, showing how uneven these cuts have been across the country and the reasons for this. It also describes the increased exposure to risk of both local government and of the citizens and communities it serves. The central question for the papers which follow is how local government is responding to these twin challenges. The papers provide insights from a number of detailed studies of individual authorities, exploring the strategies adopted to manage in response. The analyses focus on the distributive consequences for individuals and communities, but they also reflect on the wider consequences for local government itself. A particular concern is whether local responses are changing as austerity moves from its initial to its later phase.

Key Words:

• Local government
• austerity
• UK
• fiscal stress
• risk

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nick Bailey

Nick Bailey is professor of urban studies at the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow. He is interested in the analysis of poverty and inequality, and in neighbourhoods and spatial inequalities. He is the author, with K. Besemer, G. Bramley and M. Livingston, of ‘How neighbourhood social mix shapes access to resources from social networks and from services’ in Housing Studies (forthcoming).

Glen Bramley

Glen Bramley is professor of urban studies at the Institute for Social Policy, Housing, Environment and Real Estate in the School of Energy, Geosciences, Infrastructure and Society at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. His recent research has focused on planning for new housing, modelling the impact of planning on the housing market, housing need and affordability, low-cost home ownership, poverty, deprivation and the funding and outcomes of local services. He is the author, with D. Watkins, of ‘Housebuilding, demographic change and affordability as outcomes of local planning decisions: exploring interactions using a sub-regional model of housing markets in England’ in Progress in Planning, 2015.

Annette Hastings

Annette Hastings is professor of urban studies at the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow. Her recent research deals with the nature and causes of urban inequality, focusing on how local services can contribute to maintaining as well as tackling inequality. She is the author, with P. Matthews, of ‘Bourdieu and the big society: empowering the powerful in public service provision?’ in Policy and Politics, 2014.