News

As councils plan budgets for next year, concerns are growing that the Government’s reforms to adult social care are underfunded and risk their implementation as well as exacerbating existing pressures, the Local Government Association is warning.

Councils have called on the Government to provide urgent clarity on the future of the Community Renewal Fund, after announcements of successful projects have been delayed.

Action is urgently needed to make sure children and young people detained in youth offending institutions and secure training centres are safe, council leaders say.

Single use vapes, such as Elf bars and Lost Mary should be banned on environmental and health grounds, councils say for the first time today.

Councils’ allocations for the local public health grant from April, which also goes to fund local addiction support services, has still yet to be announced leaving the future of many vital services in doubt.

Councils have jointly written to the Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho MP, calling for a change of approach in delivering net zero.

Already stretched councils in England will see the core central government funding they use to pay for vital services like collecting bins, filling potholes, protecting children and caring for elderly and disabled people, cut in half over the next two years.

Council employees have been offered a pay increase of 1.50 per cent from 1 April 2021.

“Council employees have been offered a pay increase of £1,925 from 1 April 2022. For the lowest paid (currently earning £18,333 per annum), the offer equates to an increase of 10.5 per cent."

Council employees have been offered an improved pay increase