Tories' legacy is disaster for councils - Ed Davey

Sir Ed Davey said the Lib Dems would put pressure on Labour to better fund social care and housing

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said the legacy of the former Conservative government is "an absolute disaster" for council finances.

Last week Eastbourne Borough Council announced it was considering spending cuts and operational changes to achieve extensive budget savings.

The local Conservative group has blamed the Lib Dem leadership of the council for its financial difficulties, but Sir Ed said local authorities across the country are having to take some "very difficult decisions".

A Conservative spokesperson said: "Conservatives in government provided local authorities with an inflation-busting £4.5 billion increase in their funding this year."

In an interview with BBC South East ahead of his party's autumn conference in Brighton, Sir Ed said: "Councils - whoever is running them - are facing a very tough time.

"Eastbourne, as a council, has such a good record and it is just shocking that the Conservatives left them in such a mess."

Sir Ed, pictured campaigning in Eastbourne during the general election, said the town's council was "well-run" by the Lib Dems

Eastbourne Borough Council said increased demand for temporary accommodation had led to a multimillion-pound overspend.

It received a £6m loan from the government in February, but said it needed to find savings of £2.7m.

Sir Ed said his party would "put pressure on the new government" to make sure it funded areas like social care and housing, which he said had not been adequately funded and were putting the most pressure on local authority budgets.

When asked whether the Lib Dems thought they should have a short-term injection of cash, he said: "They are going to need it, particularly on care."

The Kingston and Surbiton MP also said he would look at the government's proposals to build on parts of the green belt in Kent and Surrey but that he was "very sceptical of them".

Eastbourne Borough Council has said it needs to make an extra £2.7m in savings

In their election manifesto, the Lib Dems pledged to build 1.9m homes over the next five years if they were elected into government, higher than the government's target of 1.5m.

Sir Ed said, "I don't think you need to" build on the green belt to deliver those housing numbers.

He said his party believed in a "community-led" approach.

"If you have that community-led approach, people know where there is brownfield land that could be turned into housing," he continued.

The Conservative spokesperson added that the party had also put in place £4.8bn Levelling Up funding.