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As the country prepares for ice and snowy conditions this weekend, councils are urging households to show extra vigilance and ensure vulnerable friends, neighbours and relatives are safe as the big freeze bites.

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.

The Government has announced today that 90 per cent of councils are now part of a programme that will create 44,000 new jobs and release land for 25,000 new homes.

With 90 children entering the care system every single day last year, the LGA is calling on the Government to use the upcoming Local Government Finance Settlement to resolve the £2billion funding gap that is facing children’s services by 2020.

"Councils are doing all they can to get people out of hospital safely and quickly and delays attributable to social care are down 7.2 cent from July to September."

“The impact of loneliness can be devastating, both physically and mentally, especially during the winter months."

“Councils have lost out on enough homes to house the population of Oxford in the last five years, and we urgently need a model of Right to Buy that actually allows councils to build more homes, in order to increase the opportunities for families."

“Ninety-one per cent of maintained schools are now rated as either outstanding or good, which is a great achievement that must now be acknowledged by central government. Councils must now be recognised as improvement partners, and be allowed to help all schools improve where necessary, including academies and free schools."

"Councils want every child to have a good quality of life and be able to improve their circumstances regardless of their background or where they live. It is absolutely right that the DfE is embracing the social mobility agenda, but this goes much further than just education."

"Behind this rise in the number of homeless households are thousands of individual tragedies. Councils, on the front line of tackling homelessness, understand this, and are determined to do all they can to prevent people from losing their home in the first place."