Briefings and responses

In this submission we detail the unfunded cost pressures facing local government and why, with many local services facing significant funding gaps, it is vital that the Budget recognises that councils cannot continue without sufficient and sustainable resources.

We have been calling for an overhaul of the current Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) process to ensure there is adequate protection for human rights. The decision to focus on how we best protect people’s liberty is positive and we support it.

The programme of reviews, covering further education and sixth form colleges, is taking place in waves and is due to completed by end of March 2017. Read the full briefing:

For local government to maximise its potential and to protect local services from further cuts, it must be made financially sustainable and truly independent.

EU laws impact many of the council services that affect people's day-to-day lives, from protecting people from unsafe food when they eat out to regulating how councils buy goods and services.

We are calling for the Government to address the overall funding gap of £5.8 billion facing local government by the end of the decade, and to provide an additional £1.3 billion required to stabilise the adult social care provider market.

We support Amendment 23 tabled by Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods MP,Teresa Pearce MP and Jim McMahon MP. This would remove from the Bill all the provisions relating to restrictions of the use of planning conditions by local planning authorities

House of Commons, Public Bill Committee, Tuesday 25 October 2016 Key messages

Local government shares the Government's ambition to increase housing supply. Councils want to play a lead role in building new homes and support measures that will enable councils to capture the value from increased land prices on land they acquire for development.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is preparing to launch a new Work and Health Programme (WHP) for people with health conditions and disabilities and those unemployed for over two years. It will replace the current Work Programme (WP) and Work Choice contracts.