Just days before many councils set their most difficult budgets in years – and many months after the LGA warned that soaring demand for social care and temporary accommodation was posing an existential risk to council budgets – the Government has finally backtracked on its catastrophic provisional local government finance settlement for 2024/25 and announced £600 million in extra funding.
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for local government, not least because of the announcement of the provisional finance settlement, but also because of the outstanding work that our colleagues across the sector have done in response to the flooding and damage caused by recent storms (including Henk, Isha and Jocelyn, as the February edition of first was going to press).
Do all government scandals need a television drama for people to take notice? ITV’s ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’ horrified the public and triggered outrage.
As Independents and members of smaller parties, we need to take important – sometimes life-changing – decisions on behalf of all our residents, including the most vulnerable.
It is shaping up to be a busy year for local government in 2024.
I would like to wish everyone across the local government sector, officers and councillors alike, a very prosperous new year.
The provisional local government finance settlement for the upcoming financial year, with its £64.1 billion funding package, may seem like a step in the right direction.
We have been making efficiency savings in our councils, putting up council taxes and charges, and doing innovative ‘invest to save’ projects.
In the first King’s Speech in more than 70 years, the Conservatives showed they do not have a plan to fix the fundamental problems facing the country – they are more interested in saving their own skin.
The peer support package offered by the LGA continues to be the cornerstone of the sector support programme for our membership.