Shapps and Pickles branded a 'disgrace' by top Lib Dem

Published by Ross Macmillan for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Communities, Local Government

Nick Clegg has been urged by the leader of the Liberal Democrats' local councillors to "rein in" two senior Tory ministers who he accused of being "a disgrace" for denying spending cuts would lead to town hall job losses and service reductions.

Richard Kemp, whose own authority of Liverpool faces an 8.9% drop in spending power next year, said Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Housing Minister Grant Shapps were acting "like Laurel and Hardy".

In an email to the Deputy Prime Minister and Lib Dem leader, he said the pair were issuing a near-daily "gimmick" in a bid to suggest the massive drop in funding could be bridged alone by pay cuts, efficiency savings and using reserves.

"Their behaviour is a disgrace. Either they really do not know how serious the situation is that they have created by rushing to get brownie points by being the first to settle with the biggest front loading or they are deliberately trying to distract attention from the problems that they have created," he wrote.

His concerns are high on the agenda when he meets with Mr Clegg for talks tomorrow but the party leadership was quick to distance itself from his accusations against the pair.

"These are Mr Kemp's personal views and are not representative of Liberal Democrats in Government," a spokesman for the Deputy Prime Minister said.

"The Coalition Government has, despite the financial mess Labour left us in, embarked on a radical shift of power away from central government to local government and communities."

And Mr Shapps returned fire: "Mr Kemp will be rather embarrassed when he notices that on Monday his own council admitted its senior management was so bloated that it axed 48 posts saving the taxpayer £4.25 million.

"I don't think even Richard could deny that this move will protect plenty of frontline staff.

"Maybe Mr Kemp is rattled by our new level of transparency meaning that all councils will have to publish expenditure over £500 online, exposing the inner workings of town halls to public scrutiny for the first time.

"This was a tough but fair settlement ensuring the most vulnerable communities were protected.

"If councils share back office services, join forces to procure, cut out the crazy non-jobs and root out the wild over-spends then they can protect frontline services."

Mr Pickles this week unveiled details of cuts to central government grants for local authorities that town hall chiefs said represented a drop of up to 17% for 2011/12 and they face a total funding shortfall of £6.5 billion over the next year.

He said the package was "progressive and fair" because steps had been taken to protect the poorest areas which rely most heavily on public sector services but unions have warned of large-scale job losses.

Clashing over the impact on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Shapps told Mr Kemp that there was "no excuse" for cuts to frontline services as neighbouring councils could save millions by sharing senior staff and offering joint services.

He conceded that the financial squeeze would require "enormous amounts of pain and restructuring".

But he added: "There is not a single council in the country that has taken all of those steps. Some councils are starting to do some sharing but no-one has got this far and until they have there is no reasons to be cutting the frontline.

"There is no excuse for making those cuts."

Mr Kemp said the Treasury and Prime Minister David Cameron agreed that councils were already the most efficient part of government.

"We have made 3% real savings, verified by the Treasury, every year for the last eight years," he said.

"We can make make more, we should make more, we will make more. But are being led like lambs to the slaughter by Mr Pickles - local government are facing the biggest cuts in our budget of any part of the public sector and we are doing it up front.

"And while we are doing that, we have two ministers in particular - Mr Pickles and Mr Shapps - giving a very clear impression with a series of soundbites, which don't stand up to reality, which give the impression this is all easy."

He urged Mr Shapps to slow down the funding cuts or accept they would affect "real jobs in real front-line services".

The minister also renewed calls for pay restraint at the Local Government Association (LGA) - the body representing 422 local authorities in England and Wales - of which Mr Kemp is a senior representative.

Mr Shapps believes at least 15 bosses at the LGA have packages of more than £100,000 a year, including seven on more than the Prime Minister's salary of £142,500.

Shadow communities and local government secretary Caroline Flint said: "People up and down the country are facing unprecedented frontloaded cuts to their local councils, putting growth, jobs and vital frontline services at risk.

"The Government has also chosen to hit the poorest councils the hardest. The average cut for the most deprived communities is four times bigger than those in the better-off areas and in some cases, the cuts are nearly nine times as big.

"That's unfair and it shows just how out of touch this Government is with ordinary people."

Responding to the Laurel and Hardy jibe, Mr Shapps told his followers on social networking site Twitter: "Perhaps this makes Richard Kemp the hapless Harold Lloyd, though unlike Richard that character was always silent "