Local consensus needed on reorganisation
I hope colleagues across local government had a good Christmas and I am sure everyone is back into the swing of things as we enter 2025.
Councillor Kevin Bentley
Ministers don’t get it on National Insurance
My preliminary discussions with council leaders over recent weeks, ahead of February budget setting, continually brings to bear the reality of the Labour Government’s seismic increase to employer National Insurance contributions.
Expect seismic increase in EHCPs
The first Budget for any government is an opportunity to sell their agenda for the course of a Parliament.
Local government is the pillar of our party
Conservative Party conference this year demonstrated that the Conservative local government family is now the dominant pillar of our party.
Local government needs more equal relationship
All politics is local and that is precisely the message the LGA Conservative Group has been getting across to the candidates in the Conservative leadership election.
Resetting national-local relationships
Recent months have been difficult for Conservatives, particularly in local government. We lost some great Conservative councillors during the local elections in May, and we experienced an incredibly gruelling general election campaign.
A new hope
The LGA’s Local Government White Paper sets out how to deliver more and better for residents.
Helping councils to deliver
Astonishingly, by the time you read this, we will already be half-way through the general election campaign.
Concerns about productivity plans
All of us will welcome the additional uplift in funding announced in the final local government finance settlement, while acknowledging that much more support is necessary.