Articles by Sir Stephen Houghton
Fair funding finally within sight
By Sir Stephen Houghton | 11 July 2025
Full council tax equalisation will have a huge impact for the most deprived areas, but for the se...
The uncertainty principle
By Sir Stephen Houghton | 12 June 2023
Council finances are fragile after 13 years of cuts and an extended period of uncertainty, and mu...
Cash is key to invest in prevention
By Sir Stephen Houghton | 25 April 2023
Children’s services need the same attention as adult social care, and the £2.6bn set out in the M...
Why levelling up is on life support
By Sir Stephen Houghton | 30 November 2022
Cllr Sir Stephen Houghton says it is the poorest and most vulnerable who rely on local services a...
A defining moment for levelling up
By Sir Stephen Houghton | 08 November 2022
Sir Stephen Houghton warns Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt have some huge economic choices to make, b...
The inclusion of councils in the Energy Bill Relief Scheme is good news
By Sir Stephen Houghton | 23 September 2022
Support for councils’ energy bills is welcome but inflation continues to impact and will still pl...
Queen's Speech: 'levelling up' let down
By Sir Stephen Houghton | 25 May 2022
Sir Stephen Houghton says we must not see blame being levelled on those areas who are not able to...
White Paper has welcome ambition but fails to mention role of austerity
By Sir Stephen Houghton | 25 February 2022
Even if the Government streamlines funding arrangements it will not be able to achieve any of the...
Inflation's a concern for councils and residents
By Sir Stephen Houghton | 01 February 2022
Councils and residents are facing severe price rises that will hit the more deprived hardest, say...
This settlement is very much a stop gap
By Sir Stephen Houghton | 20 December 2021
Cllr Sir Stephen Houghton of SIGOMA says a ‘stopgap’ settlement with a welcome funding boost need...
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