Michael Gove has been accused of being the “minister for closing down” over plans for millions of pounds worth of cuts in Wirral.
Wirral Council is looking to save £20m to address its budget black hole, with two damning government reports published last November saying the authority must spend less on leisure services.
The cuts plan, which could change following a public consultation and further council meetings, would see 11 libraries, Woodchurch Leisure Centre and two public golf courses closed down.
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In a show of the strength of feeling about the proposals, a petition to save Hoylake Library has gained 1,095 signatures on the website change.org at the time of writing.
One of the petitioners, Helen van Marle, said: “This library is vital for the residents of Hoylake. It has been a huge part of this community for as long as I can remember and it still is.
“Not everyone is able to get to West Kirby. Don't take away everything that we have, books and learning will always be needed and we love our local library.”
Speaking in the House of Commons this afternoon, Mike Amesbury, shadow minister for local government, took aim at Michael Gove, the secretary for levelling up, housing and communities.
Mr Amesbury said: “Despite the language and rhetoric of levelling up the reality is somewhat different in our communities.
“How can local authority funding in the north have been cut by £413 per person over [the last] 10 years, followed by spending of just £32 per person, be classed as levelling up?”
The Labour MP, who represents Weaver Vale, added: “The secretary of state [Michael Gove] is quickly getting a reputation for himself in the Wirral, as the minister for closing down, laying off, holing out, with libraries, leisure centres and public sector workers facing the chop.
“At what stage does he intend to get a grip and level up [local] government finances?”
Answering Mr Amesbury’s question, Kemi Badenoch, Conservative MP and minister for levelling up, said: “He [Mr Amesbury] will know that the provisional local government settlement was published, and he and I have had discussions about that which show that there is a significant increase in core spending power.”
