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“Childhood obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges we face and this report is another stark reminder of the urgent need for radical action to combat this."

Cllr Claire Kober, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Resources Board, responded to the National Audit Office report on 100 per cent retention of business rates

“With a 26 per cent fall in apprenticeship starts between 2015/16 and 2017/18 and many employers still struggling to spend their funds nearly two years after the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy, further reform to enable greater local flexibility is desperately needed."

“To ensure employment and skills programmes are as effective as they can be in future, councils and combined authorities should be placed at the heart of delivering a coherent and local offer building on their proven track record of delivering similar services and support.”

“Councils want to build on this success to ensure local communities benefit more from national schemes."

The UK leaving the European Union will mean significant new additional responsibilities for local councils to check goods entering the country.

Responding to a National Audit Office interim report on the Government’s approach to test and trace in England, Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:  “From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent launch of NHS Test and Trace, we have consistently called for councils and their directors of public health to be able to use their considerable expertise and unparalleled experience to play their full part in the national effort to beat this virus.  “Environmental health, emergency planners, trading standards and public

"The Government should use the upcoming Spending Review as an opportunity to empower councils to place a local digital champion in every local area to help facilitate delivery and support providers to install gigabit-capable broadband as quickly as possible."

"We need to do all we can to support the retention of good school leaders and teachers, which requires every school to have the necessary funds to invest and prioritise high quality staff development."

"Museums, galleries and libraries have adapted imaginatively to lockdown, providing new and innovative services for their communities, but they have been unable to generate income during this time putting many at risk of closure."