Chancellor Rishi Sunak has snubbed a Local Government Association (LGA) call for a meeting on a range of issues affecting the sector.
LGA chairman James Jamieson had written to Mr Sunak asking for a meeting with him ahead of the spring statement last month.
In his letter, Cllr Jamieson told Mr Sunak that the local government finance system was in ‘desperate need of reform’ after the fourth one-year settlement in a row.
The letter read: ‘Councils need a multi-year settlement to make well-founded and sustainable budget decisions.
'This is crucial for councils to plan budgets effectively and manage future risk, improving the financial resilience of local government.’
It also asked for extra funding to ‘address the challenges of recruiting and retain[ing] key staff at senior and middle management level in the wake of cost of living pressures and sector pay non-competitiveness’.
Despite the request, no meeting between Mr Sunak and Cllr Jamieson is understood to have taken place.