Time to fund councils properly
As we begin a new year, it’s natural to think about new beginnings. Could 2022 be the year that the Government stops dithering and finally gets a grip on council funding?
As we begin a new year, it’s natural to think about new beginnings. Could 2022 be the year that the Government stops dithering and finally gets a grip on council funding?
I sit here writing this column still buzzing from our stunning victory in the North Shropshire by-election. Helen Morgan will make a fantastic MP, and a great voice for ignored rural communities.
We enter 2022 with everything to play for.
The 2001 ‘Valuing people’ white paper established learning disability partnership boards (LDPs) for three simple but ambitious reasons.
In Bradford and Craven, where Katie Peacock lives, the life expectancy of a woman with a learning disability is 29 years less than for a woman who doesn’t have one – and for a man, it is 14 years less. “Very sadly, these shocking figures are in line with national statistics,” Katie notes.
Children’s and adult social care services could fail to support everyone they need to, despite making up nearly two-thirds of councils’ total spending, because of rising demand, increasing costs and inadequate funding.
COP26 underlined councils’ importance in tackling the climate emergency.
Nearly 700,000 new ‘green’ jobs could be created by 2030 if councils are given a greater role in local job creation, the LGA has said.