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 Local Government Association (LGA) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Government’s consultation on aspects of the COVID-19 funding for local government in 2021/22. The LGA is here to support, promote and improve local government. Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, the LGA has consistently highlighted the financial pressures of the pandemic on local government and continues to make the case that the Government should cover the full impact of the crisis. This response has been approved by members of the LGA Resources Board.
Councils are uniquely placed to build communities that are inclusive, cohesive and promote people’s life chances. They do this by tailoring more than 800 local services to the needs of their residents, to meet local and national challenges.
The 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.
Taking into account the grant support received so far, and assuming that the income guarantee scheme parameters will compensate councils for around £1 billion of lost non-tax income, the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimate there is still an unfunded overall pressure of £1.1 billion in 2020/21 that councils will be forced to absorb unless further funding is announced.
The Autumn Statement provides a formal update on the state of the economy, responds to the new economic and fiscal forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility and announces the Government’s measures to promote economic growth.