The Editorial Team 
The LGA has called for £1.7 billion in government cuts to early intervention funding to be reversed, as councils prepare for a surge in demand for support for children and young people who have “disappeared” during the pandemic.
English councils received at least 448 individual government grants between 2015/16 to 2018/19 in an increasingly “fragmented and reactive” use of public funding, a new LGA study reveals.
Short-term funding and the lack of a long-term vision for adult social care have hampered local authorities’ ability to innovate and plan for the future, according to a report by the National Audit Office.
The LGA has welcomed a recent report from Sport England that recognises the critical importance of a place-based approach to supporting communities to be active.
‘Landmark’ reforms of mental health laws must also ensure ongoing funding for councils’ mental health services, the LGA has said.
More than a million homes on land earmarked for development by councils have yet to be brought forward by developers for planning permission.
The Chancellor’s statement offered councils some short-term financial certainty, but no long-term solutions to chronic problems such as adult social care.
Councils’ public health funding grant will be maintained but not increased in 2021 – a decision labelled “extremely short-sighted” by the LGA in its response to last month’s Spending Review.
The Government has announced an additional £10 million for port health authorities ahead of the end of the EU transition period on 31 December.
The number of people considered to be clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) to COVID-19 and advised to shield has been expanded by an additional 1.7 million.