Briefings and responses

Many of the services that impact young adults are delivered by local government. The challenges facing them span a range of issues. It is vital that the Government uses the Spending Review to deliver truly sustainable funding for local government. Investing in local services is good for the nation’s prosperity and overall wellbeing.

Improving and maintaining good mental health for children is a vital priority for councils. Intervening early can dramatically improve an individual’s life chances and save our public services money in the longer term.

Local leaders should be given the responsibility and funding to address long-standing challenges and maximise opportunities. Bringing power and resources closer to people is the key to delivering better outcomes for communities and inclusive growth across the country.

The UK system of devolution is unequal. Councils across England need to be given control over public services and investments.

The ability of local government to take the lead on climate change is restricted by financial constraints on councils, a lack of devolved powers, challenges with monitoring and implementation and a lack of awareness of the agenda.

We welcome the numerous mentions throughout the document of the need for the NHS to work with partners, in particular local government. The NHS view of what constitutes a locally driven plan, however, is more centrally driven than the local government perspective.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an overarching framework cutting across environmental, economic and social goals.

Councils support active travel. Getting people to use more active travel will improve congestion, air quality and obesity rates, which in turn have substantial benefits such as for local economies, education and taxpayers.

To help councils and combined authorities close their skills gaps the Government should enable them to coordinate a localised approach to skills. This includes loosening Apprenticeship Levy restrictions. We welcome announcements made on this in the 2018 Budget, but the Government must now go further and faster. 

On 13 February 2019, the Supreme Court granted Unison leave to appeal the Court of Appeal judgment. The case has been listed to be heard on 12 and 13 February 2020.