Lib Dems warn National Service plan would see cuts to vital services in Wigan Borough after scrapping of £9.9mn local fund.

The Liberal Democrats have warned that the Conservative Party’s plans to spend £2.5 billion on National Service would lead to cuts to vital services in Wigan.

The Conservatives have said their plans would be paid for by slashing funding for local areas through the Shared Prosperity Fund from 2028-29, which funds projects that boost jobs and living standards, improve public services and build pride in local communities.

This fund has provided £9.9million of funding for Wigan Borough from 2022 to 2025. Local projects funded include developments at Pennington Flash Nature Reserve and Leigh town centre improvements.   A variety of Community and Place Projects across Wigan Borough enhancing the look of district town centres have also been funded.

The Liberal Democrats said it showed the Conservative Party had completely the wrong priorities, and called on the government to reverse their plans to slash troop numbers by 10,000 instead.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Wigan, Brian Crombie-Fisher commented:

“The Conservative Party has already done so much damage to people’s living standards and public services in Wigan with all their chaos.

“Now they want to slash funding for local services to pay for their hare-brained plans for a National Service, which are nothing but a desperate distraction from the government’s record of failure on the NHS and economy.

“If the Conservatives were serious about defending Britain’s security, they would reverse their plans to cut the Army by 10,000 troops.”