Finance Settlement
Scots councils face four years of cuts
Scottish councils face four years of cuts under Spending Review plans outlined by Scotland’s finance minister Kate Forbes.
Sunak snubs LGA meeting request
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has snubbed a Local Government Association (LGA) call for a meeting on a range of issues affecting the sector.
Councils need radical thinking at a time of crisis
Professor Richard Murphy says councils need to cooperate to tackle the multiple crises faced by communities, and he puts forward four ways of addressing social need.
Assume the brace position
The real impact of the cost of living crisis is yet to really unfold and, as for council finances, we probably need to brace ourselves for a tough few years, says Chris Tambini.
White Paper has welcome ambition but fails to mention role of austerity
Even if the Government streamlines funding arrangements it will not be able to achieve any of the Levelling Up White Paper missions unless the scale of intervention drastically increases, says Stephen Houghton.
O'Brien backs multi-year settlement idea
Levelling up minister Neil O’Brien has backed the idea of a multi-year local government finance settlement in future.
Isle of Wight unhappy despite extra £1m
Isle of Wight Council has expressed its ‘profound disappointment’ despite an extra £1m for 2022-23 in the final local government settlement.
The levelling up of local government funding is long overdue
The system for funding local services is desperately in need of root and branch reform and a half-hearted fair funding review will just store up even bigger problems for the future, says Chris Tambini.
Difficult decisions lie ahead for counties
County Councils Network analysis projects that even with the extra funding secured by the sector, its 36 members will collectively have a gap of £700m in 2022-23, says Nicola Beach.
Balancing the budget for Cornwall Council has been hard
Cornwall Council has just managed to balance its budget for 2022-23, says Tracie Langley. It is also re-shaping the organisation to be able to respond to the spirit of the council’s new business plan which looks for all employees to work more closely with communities.
Fair Cost of Care fund won't be enough, say providers
The Fair Cost of Care fund aimed at stopping local care markets being destabilised won’t be enough to fix ‘massive staff shortages’ and mend a sector in crisis, says the CEO of the National Care Forum.
A late-notice, short-term and partial settlement poses problems
There may be a clue about why the sector only has a one-year settlement in the lack of announcements around the fair funding review, the overdue business rates reset, and the delayed levelling up White Paper, says Abdool Kara.
Local government's finance community are left scratching their heads
Tony Kirkham hopes the Government looks at alternative ways of managing future transitions and firms up the services grant in order to give a greater level of planning certainty.
Districts call for new homes bonus certainty
District councils have called for long-term certainty over the future of the dwindling new homes bonus (NHB).
LGA plea for funding certainty
A call for more certainty over future finances for the sector has been made by the Local Government Association (LGA).
Looking ahead with trepidation
Professor Martin Reeves digests the contents of the provisional local government finance settlement and highlights the key reasons why it will fail to meet the challenges that lie ahead.
This provisional settlement makes the job of districts harder
The Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement falls short of what district councils need and leaves funding gaps that undermine the ability to deliver essential services, says Cllr Sharon Taylor.
This settlement is very much a stop gap
Cllr Sir Stephen Houghton of SIGOMA says a ‘stopgap’ settlement with a welcome funding boost needs to be followed by a fair funding review that supports the Government’s levelling up agenda.
The problems with the finance settlement
Ian Miller examines the risks and uncertainties for districts in the provisional settlement, and lists the uncomfortable topics he says ‘cannot be avoided for much longer’.
Counties' concern at care funding
County councils have expressed concern at the level of central funding to rebalance care markets.
