The LGA's media office provides the national voice of local government in England and Wales on the major issues of the day for national, regional and local press.
“It is critical that that the Government uses the Spending Review to provide significant investment so councils can continue to support their employees as much as possible and recruit and retain the staff needed to provide the local services that are delivered every day by our hard-working staff, alongside care workers and NHS colleagues.”
“It remains extremely worrying that with infection rates and deaths from coronavirus continuing to increase during this lockdown, the test and trace system is still only picking up six out of every ten contacts of people who tested positive."
“Our recent research found that nearly 700,000 jobs would be needed in England’s low-carbon and renewable energy economy by 2030, rising to more than one million by 2050. An integrated and devolved approach to the development of skills is urgently needed and our Work Local proposals set out the steps for handing funding and powers over skills to local areas.”
Responding to the Centre for Ageing Better’s ‘State of Ageing in 2020’ report, Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:
“This latest report is another important warning that the impact of coronavirus could have far reaching consequences for everyone, from all ages and backgrounds.
“Councils play a crucial role in improving and maintaining their residents’ health and wellbeing, including for older people. During this incredibly difficult period, councils want to continue doing all they can to ensure our older people have access to the
"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."
“These findings reinforce why it is essential that accessible and adaptable housing for older and disabled people is a key part of our national ambition to build new homes, and we support calls to raise the minimum accessibility standards for new housing."
“Now is the time to reverse the decline in council housing over the past few decades. As important as these reforms are for tenants, they will not help to tackle the severe shortage of social housing the country faces."
More than a million young people in England could be missing formal full-time education, fuelled by significant gaps in education legislation, rising child support needs and a lack of funding.
The LGA said the Government and NHS must utilise the knowledge and experience of directors of public health when it comes to distributing a potential COVID-19 vaccine.