Briefings and responses

The Local Government Association is here to support, promote and improve local government. We will fight local government's corner and support councils through challenging times by making the case for greater devolution, helping councils tackle their challenges and assisting them to deliver better value for money services.

Councils are approving 9 in 10 planning application and in almost 70 per cent of planning appeal cases the Planning Inspectorate uphold councils’ decisions.

Research commissioned by the LGA reveals that the skills gap is worsening. By 2024 there will be more than four million too few high-skilled people to take up available jobs, two million too many with intermediate skills and more than six million too many low-skilled.

Children should be supported to get the best, not just to get by. It is however increasingly challenging to turn this ambition into a reality when the financial pressures are forcing an increasing number of councils to make difficult decisions about the allocation of limited resources.

A summary of the main recommendations of relevance to local government and the LGA's initial response.

This briefing provides a summary of the Strategy, with a specific focus on those elements which are most likely to directly impact upon local government. The key concepts within the strategy are subject to consultation which is likely to take place from January 2019 onwards.

The LGA has long called for businesses and manufacturers to pay the full cost of recycling or disposing of their packaging.

The Bill provides a vital opportunity for long-awaited reform. It is important that this opportunity is not missed and that the Bill is passed as the current situation is not sustainable for councils and our communities.

The LGA welcomes the opportunity to respond to this consultation on the level of audit fees. The consultation proposes that the 2019/20 scale audit fees and indicative certification fees are set at the same level as the scale fees applicable for 2018/19.

On 13 December the Government announced the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2019/20.