Conservatives Announce Cuts to Local Funding to Fund National Service
Lib Dems warn National Service plan would see cuts to vital services in Redditch after scrapping of £5.1mn local fund
The Liberal Democrats have warned that the Conservative Party’s plans to spend £2.5 billion on National Service would lead to cuts to vital services in Redditch and the surrounding villages.
The Conservatives have said their plans would be paid for by slashing funding for local areas through the Shared Prosperity Fund from 2028-29, which funds projects that boost jobs and living standards, improve public services and build pride in local communities.
This fund has provided £2.5 million of funding for Redditch as well as over £2.6 million for Worcestershire from 2022 to 2025. Local projects funded include Redditch parks, the Canopies event space, Redditch Youth Hub and many more.
The Liberal Democrats said it showed the Conservative Party had completely the wrong priorities and called on the government to reverse their plans to slashed troop numbers by 10,000 instead.
The Conservative Party has already done so much damage to people’s living standards and public services in Redditch with all their chaos. Now they want to slash funding for local services to pay for their hare-brained plans for a National Service, which are nothing but a desperate distraction from the government’s record of failure on the NHS and economy. If the Conservatives were serious about defending Britain’s security, they would reverse their plans to cut the Army by 10,000 troops.
ANDREW FIELDSEND-ROXBOROUGH, LIBERAL DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE FOR REDDITCH AND THE VILLAGES