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Folkestone has been drawing in crowds in recent years with regeneration and private developments transforming parts of this port town on the Kent coast.

But many residents will tell you that the fabric of this community is being torn apart. Local services are deteriorating and have been for some time.

Leisure centres have shut down and Kent County Council recently closed most of its 50 youth clubs.

The local library has been closed for two years because it has fallen into disrepair and the local council says it can’t afford to repair it. Instead, a makeshift library has been set up across the road, in what was once a youth centre.

It’s not a unique story. Across the country, local authorities have seen their budgets slashed over the past decade.

Since 2010, central government has cut its grants, forcing local councils to raise more council tax. That hasn’t been enough to make up the shortfall, with total spending power plummeting by 26% over the past decade.

At the same time demand for core services, mainly adult social care, has soared, meaning councils are trying to deliver more for less.

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Unsurprisingly, non-critical services have been the first to go.

Residents of Folkestone say they’ve had enough and expect the new Labour government to make good on its promise to fix their local services.

Folkestone town centre volunteer SN screenshot
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In Folkestone, volunteers are helping keep the town centre tidy because the local council does not have the resources.

Matthew Jones, a local campaigner, said: “Libraries are not just a place where you borrow books. It’s the centre of a community… where people come, people who are not only unemployed but students too, a place where they can actually find somewhere warm and safe to study with people around them who can help them.”

Kent County Council had to make £90m of savings last year and is now looking to make another £85m.

Along with closing down services, the council is selling its headquarters, a listed building it has called home for more than 100 years because it can no longer afford to maintain it.

Peter Oakford, the council’s deputy leader, said there was no more “fat to cut”.

“We feel for the residents… because of the position we are in we are asking people to pay more for less services. Until the government fully fund social care so the council can fund other areas of non-discretionary business that we support residents with, we’re going to be in this same position.”

Peter Oakford, Kent County Council's deputy leader. SN screenshot
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Peter Oakford, Kent County Council’s deputy leader, says there is no more “fat to cut” from their budget.

Local authorities, along with other unprotected budgets such as courts and prisons, have borne the brunt of cuts since 2010 as central government sought to prioritise funding for the NHS and schools.

The problems have reached breaking point at a number of local authorities and one in four councils in England say they are likely to have to apply for emergency government bailout agreements to stave off bankruptcy in the next two financial years, according to a new survey by the Local Government Association (LGA).

Read more from Sky News:
Budget 2024: What could the chancellor announce?
‘Difficult choices’ ahead, warns health secretary

Government borrowing remains highest since pandemic

SN screenshot from VT on local authority spending ahead of budget

A separate report by the union Unison found that local authorities are grappling with a £4.3bn black hole in their budgets next year, which will rise to £8.5bn the following year.

The chancellor is under pressure to find extra money for local councils in her budget next week but she is grappling with spending demands across the public sector.

Rachel Reeves maintains that this type of day-to-day spending can only be covered through taxation, but the government has promised it will not raise income tax, national insurance or VAT.

This means the chancellor has a difficult balance to strike.

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Water companies blocked from using customer cash for ‘undeserved’ bonuses

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Water companies blocked from using customer cash for 'undeserved' bonuses

Nine water companies have been blocked from using customer money to fund “undeserved” bonuses by the industry’s regulator.

Ofwat said it had stepped in to use its new powers over water firms that cannot show that bonuses are sufficiently linked to performance.

The blocked payouts amount to 73% of the total executive awards proposed across the industry.

The regulator has prevented crisis-hit Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, and Dwr Cymru Welsh Water from paying £1.5m in bonuses from cash generated from customer bills.

It said a further six firms have voluntarily decided not to push the cost of executive bonuses worth a combined £5.2m on to customers.

Instead, shareholders at Anglian Water, Severn Trent, South West, Southern Water, United Utilities and Wessex will pay the cost.

Money blog: Seven deals to avoid on Black Friday – and alternative buys

David Black, chief executive of Ofwat, said: “In stopping customers from paying for undeserved bonuses that do not properly reflect performance, we are looking to sharpen executive mindsets and push companies to improve their performance and culture of accountability.

“While we are starting to see companies take some positive steps, they need to do more to rebuild public trust.”

The announcement came in an Ofwat update on firms’ financial resilience and bonuses.

Industry lobby group Water UK said: “Almost all water company bonuses are already paid by shareholders, not customers.

“All companies recognise the need to do more to deliver on their plans to support economic growth, build more homes, secure our water supplies and end sewage entering our rivers.

“We now need the regulator Ofwat to fully approve water companies’ £108bn investment plans so that we can get on with it.

“Ofwat’s financial resilience report provides yet more evidence that the current system isn’t working, with returns down to 2% and eight companies making a loss.

“It is clear we need a faster and simpler system which allows companies to deliver for customers, the environment and the country.”

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Google could be forced to sell its Chrome browser over internet search monopoly claims

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Google could be forced to sell its Chrome browser over internet search monopoly claims

Google must sell its Chrome browser to restore competition in the online search market, US prosecutors have argued.

The proposed breakup has been floated in a 23-page document filed by the US Justice Department.

It also calls for lawmakers to impose restrictions designed to prevent its Android smartphone software from favouring its own search engine.

If the rules were brought in, it would essentially result in Google being highly regulated for 10 years.

Google controls about 90% of the online search market and 95% on smartphones.

Read more:
School smartphone ban will not become law after MP drops proposal
Grieving parents tell Ofcom to ‘step up’ over social media content

Court papers filed on Wednesday expand on an earlier outline for what prosecutors argued would dilute that monopoly.

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Google called the proposals radical at the time, saying they would harm US consumers and businesses and shake American competitiveness in AI.

The company has said it will appeal.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) and a coalition of states want US District Judge Amit Mehta to end exclusive agreements in which Google pays billions of dollars annually to Apple and other device vendors to be the default search engine on their tablets and smartphones.

Google will have a chance to present its own proposals in December.

A trial on the proposals has been set for April, however President-elect Donald Trump and the DoJ’s next antitrust head could step in.

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Dozens of partners take early retirement from accountancy giant PwC

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Dozens of partners take early retirement from accountancy giant PwC

Dozens of partners at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Britain’s biggest accountancy firm, will next month take early retirement as its new boss takes steps to boost its performance.

Sky News has learnt that PwC’s 1,030 UK partners were notified earlier this week that a larger-than-usual round of partner retirements would take place at the end of the year.

Sources said the round would involve several dozen partners – who command average pay packages of about £1m – leaving the firm.

PwC named about 60 new partners earlier this year under Marco Amitrano, who was appointed as its new UK boss in the spring.

Mr Amitrano is understood to have informed partners about the changes in a voice memo, although one insider disputed the idea that the numbers involved were “significant”.

The partner retirements come as the big four audit firms contend with a sizeable bill from increases in the Budget in employers’ national insurance contributions.

It emerged this week that Deloitte is cutting nearly 200 jobs in its advisory business, according to the Financial Times.

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An ongoing shake-up of the audit profession is not being restricted to the big four firms, with Sky News revealing on Wednesday that Cinven, the private equity firm, was in advanced talks to buy a controlling stake in Grant Thornton UK.

The deal, which is expected to value Grant Thornton at somewhere in the region of £1.5bn, was announced on Thursday morning.

PwC declined to comment.

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