Cornwall Council's extra £10 million cuts - education now in the front line?

I'm sure Cornwall Council deputy leader Jim Currie was trying to be helpful when he took the opportunity of a BBC Radio Cornwall interview yesterday afternoon to announce an extra £10 million spending cuts which have to be achieved in the current financial year.

Jim made it clear that these cuts were on top of the £3.8 million reduction in central government's Area Based Grants, announced and widely reported on 10th June. The total cuts package, he said, was now more than £13.6 million and he had only nine months to figure how to do it. Unfortunately Jim wasn't able to say where these additional cuts had come from and the council today still insists it will not be giving a breakdown.

Apart from making the council look rather foolish in the eyes of central government ("What do you mean they're making £10 million extra cuts, but can't say why - that's crazy!" - Whitehall press officer,) the council has only itself to blame if people like me now start speculating.

The Communities & Local Government Department says it has not announced any additional cuts since the widely-reported ABG reductions on 10th June. The Transport Department says it has not asked for any further savings since putting some big capital projects, such as the Isles of Scilly ferry link and the Camborne-Redruth road, in the freezer until October. Various employment and training schemes for 18-24-year-olds were axed by the Treasury within days of the election.

That leaves the Department for Education. On Friday, Education Secretary Michael Gove wrote to local councils. Gove makes it clear he's looking to councils to slash education spending by up to 24%. Playgrounds, anti-bullying projects, free school meals, grants for specialist schools...read Gove's letter and make up your own mind.

At the same time, the government is de-ringfencing certain budget headings to give local councils the "freedom" to chose between losing an arm or a leg. With, of course, an increased role for the voluntary sector. Welcome to the Big Society.