News

Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, Cllr Judith Blake, responds to a report by the National Audit Office on the need to review the education of children with special educational needs.

The Queen’s Speech needs to reignite the devolution process to ensure all parts of England reap the benefits of having greater powers and funding to improve services such as housing, transport, and health and social care.

“This funding will help libraries and museums to adapt, reach even wider audiences, and continue their roles at the heart of the community."

“We support a public health approach to tackling serious violent crime, which has become an increasing priority for councils."

“There needs to be a greater focus on prevention and early intervention measures to tackle the root causes, support more victims, and stop domestic abuse occurring in the first place."

Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board Cllr Judith Blake, responds to an announcement by the Secretary of State for Education about reforms to the Adoption Support Fund.

“The newly announced retail discounts will provide support for high street businesses and pubs, but it is crucial that in line with normal government practice, councils are fully funded for this loss of extremely important income."

Cllr James Jamieson, Chairman of the Local Government Association, responds to the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement.

“Councils are doing everything they can to protect youth services but funding pressures and rising demand for other services means they have had to reduce spending on youth services by more than half since 2010."

“With sustainable, long-term funding as part of the Spending Review, councils can also invest in the early intervention and prevention services which provide vital support to young people.”