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“Levelling up should be led by evidence of where crucial investment needs to go to, not based on costly competitive bids between areas."

Health visitors play a vital role in our communities but councils face growing shortages of them.

"The creative industries are an important driver of local economies: prior to the pandemic, they accounted for 2.2 million jobs, geographically dispersed in more than 700 micro clusters across the UK."

"We are pleased the review recognises the importance of local government in delivering net zero", said Cllr David Renard, Environment spokesperson for the Local Government Association.

Hundreds of historic coastal landfill sites across the country are at risk of polluting Britain’s beaches and waterways, a new survey reveals. The survey from the Local Government Association Coastal Special Interest Group (LGA Coastal SIG), in collaboration with Coastal Group Network, shows that 26 coastal councils have sites already spilling large amounts of waste onto cliffs and beaches. Coastal landfill sites, inherited by councils are a large-scale problem on Britain’s coastlines, are often on low lying coastal and estuary sites that have historically been an easy target for the

“While it is good the Government will continue to help the public sector as well as businesses keep their energy bills lower and provided some certainty for the next 12 months, we remain deeply concerned about the risk to some council services."

“It is disappointing that so much of the current narrative on social care implies it exists solely to ease pressure on the NHS.”

Tougher powers are needed for councils to oversee and regulate out-of-school settings (OOSS) – including being able to shut down illegal schools – after an independent report commissioned by the Government uncovered major safeguarding concerns. The Department for Education funded a pilot in 16 council areas over an 18-month period into the oversight of OOSS, examining safeguarding risks and existing legal powers available to councils. OOSS is a wide range of provision including uniformed organisations, sports and leisure clubs, supplementary schools, faith-based organisations and arts

“Councils are urging the Government to make the Household Support Fund it has provided to councils permanent, alongside greater flexibility so they can ensure it helps people in the greatest need."

Responding to a Public Accounts Committee report on participation in grassroots sport, Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, said: “The future of leisure facilities is under threat and this report highlights the need for an asset strategy that will preserve the future of these key council services. “The public leisure sector has a critical role to play in helping our communities recover from the pandemic, both physically and mentally, retrain and upskill, and tackle issues like obesity, heart disease and diabetes, reducing