Angela Rayner's resignation earlier this month ushered in a wide-ranging ministerial reshuffle, a signal that the Prime Minister is attempting to shift his Government into its second phase. Particularly impacted was the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the former deputy prime minister's own patch, where an almost entirely new team of ministers will be getting to grips with their briefs.
It's a good moment to look at what has been achieved on the local government finance front since Labour took office and what needs to be addressed in this new phase. Last summer, the sector was buoyed by a sense of hope. A new Government pledged to restore economic growth and bring stability to an exhausted public sector. That hope was not misplaced. In the past year, we've seen real progress: a white paper and now a Bill on English devolution; a commitment to multi-year funding settlements; a consultation on a new fair funding review; the removal of punitive borrowing premiums for exceptional financial support (EFS); and the announcement of a new Local Audit Office to address long-standing failures in local audit.
