SIR – Worcester City Council will soon be setting its annual budget for 2019-2020.

In the past 10 years, the money from the government to the council has been cut by 47 per cent.

Over that time, I have written several letters to this newspaper about the cuts and encouraged councillors at meetings to request more funding from the government.

In the Local Government Association magazine First earlier this month, Lord Porter – a Conservative – called for the government to ‘use this year’s Spending Review to deliver a sustainable, long-term funding settlement for local government’.

Traditionally, much of council income came from central government.

There is a £3.1 billion funding gap for councils in 2019/20.

Instead of expecting people to continually pay more council tax for less, the government needs to support councils by funding them properly.

Neil Laurenson

Green Party councillor, St Stephen ward