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​​​​​​​Taxpayers will continue to subsidise planning services by almost £5 million a week until the Government finalises measures to increase fees to cover the cost of processing applications, councils warn today.

“It is deeply concerning to see that most councils are not confident they can meet all of their statutory duties required by law."

Councils in England are set to benefit from this year’s Design in the Public Sector programme which is themed on tackling climate change.

The LGA’s new analysis, compiled following a survey of council heads of planning, estimates that more than a third (1,003,600) of the 2,676,200 homes allocated in current local plans in England have not even been submitted into the planning system.

Council planning departments are set to miss out on an extra £70 million by the end of the financial year, ‘hampering’ their ability to process applications, if the Government does not urgently bring forward measures to increase planning fees, the LGA warns today.

“With more than 790,000 young people not in education, employment or training it is vital that more young people have the opportunities to increase their skills and retrain, so we can drive up productivity and start to close local skills gaps."

“Anyone can fall victim to a scam, and we urge people of all ages to brush up on the tell-tale signs, and the support available to those who need it."

Thousands of empty properties across England could be brought back into use if councils are allowed to double the rate of extra council tax on empty homes, local government leaders say today.

"We fully support the investment targeted at ‘cold spot’ areas, to help provide the schooling every child deserves. However, the pandemic has hit the educational attainment of all pupils hard, particularly those from vulnerable backgrounds, and the impact of this will be felt for years to come."

A survey by the LGA, which represents councils, found 82 per cent of respondents felt it was important to be able to comment on individual plans for all housing developments in their local area.