Briefings and responses

The NHS does not operate in isolation. The commitment for increased funding for the NHS will only be maximised if there is an equivalent scale of investment in social care, public health and prevention services that both improve people’s health, wellbeing and independence and relieve pressure on frontline NHS services.

In recent years, adult social care has been propped up by one-off, piecemeal injections of funding. This hampers councils’ ability to plan for anything beyond a short-term horizon. Social care and public health funding should therefore be given the same long-term certainty as NHS funding.

The Long Term Plan (LTP) was published on 7 January. This briefing focuses on the areas of most interest and relevance to local government and summarises all relevant LGA views, comments and policy messages.

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.

Together with NHS England, local authorities and the LGA have undertaken a range of measures to improve preparedness for winter.

This paper offers the headline issues for local government under a ‘no deal’ Brexit scenario and advises Government on the key issues that would need to be addressed through national action.

The Non-Domestic Rating (Lists) (No.2) Bill sets the date of the next Business Rates revaluation undertaken by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) as 1 April 2023. This revaluation will be based on property values as of 1 April 2021 so that, in the Government’s view, it better reflects the impact of COVID-19.

We welcome closer working between the VOA and local authorities. This must be accompanied by measures to significantly reduce the backlog of appeals. The VOA and councils must receive additional funding to implement these changes.

We welcome closer working between the VOA and local authorities. This must be accompanied by measures to significantly reduce the backlog of appeals. The VOA and councils must receive additional funding to implement these changes.

We welcome the proposal for businesses to provide more regular information to the Valuation Office Agency, as part of a move to more frequent valuations. This must be accompanied by measures to significantly reduce the backlog of appeals.