On behalf of its membership, the cross-party LGA regularly submits to Government
consultations, briefs parliamentarians and responds to a wide range of parliamentary inquiries. Our recent
responses to government consultations and parliamentary briefings can be found here.
The valuation of non-investment assets for financial reporting purposes has been a contributory factor to the current crisis in local audit and how the valuation of such assets is audited is an area that needs to be addressed if the crisis is to be solved. Clearly how the assets are valued in the first place is an important step in that and we are in broad agreement with the proposals in the consultation for most asset classes. However, the proposals for valuing networked assets (usually called “infrastructure assets” in local authorities) will cause significant problems and additional costs for councils and we suggest that an alternative and more practical approach should be taken to valuing them.
The Local Government Association (LGA) 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. This response has been agreed by Lead Members of the LGA Resources Board.
The 31 May deadline should be extended to 30 June for preparing draft (unaudited) accounts for the 2022/23 year and onwards until the current crisis in local audit has been resolved .
While the LGA welcomes an overall increase in baseline funding for local authorities, are concerned that a significant proportion of the increase in core spending power for 2023/24 has been achieved through a combination of potentially one-off grants, ring-fenced funding, re-allocation of existing funding, and the assumption that local authorities will implement council tax increases. We continue to make the case for multi-year settlements and for more long-term certainty around funding and budgets.
While the Local Government Association welcomes an overall increase in baseline funding for local authorities, we express concern that a significant proportion of the increase in core spending power for 2023/24 has been achieved through a combination of potentially one-off grants, ring-fenced funding, re-allocation of existing funding, and the assumption that local authorities will implement council tax increases. We continue to make the case for multi-year settlements and for more long-term certainty around funding and budgets.