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"Councils are committed to working closely with the Government to help deliver on its nationwide gigabit-broadband and mobile coverage ambitions."

"Councils know their communities best, with nearly 9 in 10 setting up contact tracing teams across the country to work with the national system and successfully find many hard-to-reach cases, while also helping to ensure as many people as possible can get vaccinated."

“Councils continue to work tirelessly to support communities and businesses through this crisis. This includes distributing more than £11 billion to 880,000 small businesses through previous grant schemes last year."

"Councils will continue to step up to support residents, especially those who are more vulnerable, businesses and education settings."

“While we support the premise of testing before term restarts, it is crucial that all secondary schools are properly supported and able to effectively administer these tests without significant disruption to the children’s learning."

“Social care staff have been on the frontline throughout this pandemic and rightly deserve all the protections they need to continue to doing their incredible work."

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become clear that access to fast and reliable broadband is more important than ever and councils are committed to working closely with the Government to help deliver on its nationwide gigabit-broadband and mobile coverage ambitions."

“Council housing waiting lists could nearly double as a result of COVID-19. It is vital that the government lifts the No Recourse to Public Funds condition to help prevent homelessness for the migrants who can't currently access the welfare safety net."

“Driving strong local action and tougher restrictions will add further pressure to already over-stretched council budgets. It remains imperative that the Government meets, in full, all the extra costs councils incur as a result of leading communities through the pandemic and income losses they suffer as a result."

“The Government needs to go further to help schools pay for the cost of the pandemic. Unless the COVID-19 workforce fund is extended after Christmas, backdated and eligibility for it widened, more schools will have no option but to close after having spent their budgets on supply teachers, which will only serve to exacerbate growing attainment gaps.”