Briefings and responses

We welcome the Government’s provision of an additional £1 billion in funding for SEND at the recent Budget.

The LGA welcomes that Government has taken on board the key concerns of the sector on the Right to Buy scheme, which has been reflected through this consultation and earlier changes to the scheme.

Research indicates that few children tell anyone that they are being sexually abused at the time it happens, and where they do, this is most commonly to family and friends.

We welcome both the increase in Core Spending Power and those resources outside Core Spending Power.

Councils are key to identifying and addressing the social factors that may influence a person’s mental health. Such as between health inequalities, protected characteristics, socioeconomic deprivation, and poor mental health, however, resources limit the work that councils can do.

The Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan includes 50 recommendations. The LGA is committed to collaborating with the government to implement these recommendations.

The Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill amends the non-domestic rating system in England to enable the introduction of new multipliers (i.e. tax rates). The Bill introduces powers to create new lower multipliers for qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure properties and higher multipliers for the high value properties. The Bill also removes the eligibility of private schools that are charities for charitable business rates relief.

Obesity and diet-related health issues are one of the biggest public health challenges we face, with the cost of treating obesity-related ill health forecast to rise to £9.7 billion a year by 2050.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government consulted on a new Direction to the Regulator of Social Housing in relation to social housing rent policy from 1 April 2026, from 30 October to 23 December 2024.