Local government finance policy statement – LGA response

Responding to the Local Government Finance policy statement published today, Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair of the LGA, said:

“It is positive today’s statement has pledged to deliver a programme of reform that fixes the foundations of local government, commits to multi-year settlements as we have previously called for, and reforms public services with a focus on prevention.

“The extra funding in the recent Budget will also help meet some, but not all, of the significant pressures in adult and children’s social care, SEND and homelessness support. 

“However it is vital the forthcoming provisional Local Government Finance Settlement also now fully funds the changes to employer national insurance contributions included in the Budget. 

“This will lead to a £637 million increase in councils’ wage bills for directly employed staff, and up to £1.13 billion through indirect costs via external providers including up to £628 million for commissioned adult social care services. 

“Without action, councils will be forced to make further cuts to statutory services, and risk not fulfilling some of their most important duties.

“In the meantime, we look forward to the provisional settlement so we can fully understand the implications of today’s announcements for individual councils.

 “We also look forward to working with government as part of the relationship reset between central and local government to co-create the key services and outcomes for local authorities to deliver, in the context of locally-set priorities and a robust system of accountability and oversight.”

Notes to editors

New LGA analysis estimates are based on analysis of MHCLG, ONS and Unison data. Our estimates exclude costs associated with education, police, and fire and rescue services. Estimates are for gross cost pressures and make no assumption on changes to income streams such as client contributions.

Ends