As we head to yet another Budget cycle, where local government will pin hopes and dreams on a decent settlement, expectations are heightened by the backdrop of No10 North and the Rewiring the State statement. While framed around growth there is clear recognition local growth will not happen without a sustainable local government to support delivery. The paper also nods towards prevention and doing things differently.
For decades long-term planning of local authorities' budgets have been fettered, not so much by the lack of multi-year settlements, which are always subject to any adjustments deemed necessary, but by embedded failure demand in the big spend areas of social care, both adults and children's services, homelessness and SEND provision. In each area there is a co-dependency on the spending decisions and policies of multiple departments of government. And yet prevention is rarely the driving force in spending allocations. Will this Budget be any different?
