In November, we welcomed the great and the good of the local government world to Buckinghamshire, for the County Councils Network’s (CCN’s) Annual Conference 2024. We met in Marlow under dramatically different political circumstances compared with recent history. But while it is all change in the composition of MPs in the Commons, CCN’s approach to advocacy has not changed.
Recent Budget announcements have left many in rural areas feeling overlooked.
The Government’s finance policy statement, published in late November, outlined its intentions for the provisional local government finance settlement for 2025/26.
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.
The Government has announced an extra £1.3 billion for councils in England next year – including £600 million for social care.
Further reductions to council funding would be “disastrous”, the LGA has warned in a letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of her first Budget on 30 October.
Vital funding used to boost inclusive economic growth should be extended by a year to avoid a cliff edge in support for local projects, the LGA has urged.
