Councils face an overall funding gap of more than £3bn in 2019/20, the Local Government Association (LGA) has told Whitehall.

Responding to a consultation, which closes today, the LGA argued the resources announced in the Autumn Budget and provisional local government finance settlement were ‘nowhere near enough to meet this gap’.

The consultation response from the County Councils' Network read: 'The resources allocated as part of this settlement will not prevent the necessity of £918m of savings required by our councils next year to deliver balanced budgets; many of these savings will continue to directly impact frontline services.

'Moreover, our members will have little choice but to raise council tax to meet demand-led pressures on services. 

'The uncertainty beyond 2020 is creating great financial risks for our member councils.'