The fair funding review and 75% business rates retention will be delayed until 2021/22, local government secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed.

Mr Jenrick said ‘given the need to provide certainty and stability for next year’ he was delaying the longer-term reforms, adding: ‘I recognise that these reforms are very important, however the priority in the short-term is clearly to provide the certainty that councils need to be able to set budgets for next year’.

His comments came after chancellor Sajid Javid said councils would have access to £1.5bn of new funding for social care in the next financial year.

The increase is the largest in local government spending since 2010, Mr Javid said as part of the Treasury’s Spending Round.