The Editorial Team 
The number of rough sleepers accommodated during the ‘Everyone in’ initiative over several months “far exceeds” the number recorded in the Government’s annual national snapshot of the rough sleeper population, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO).
Democracy, decision-making and good governance are strengthened when councillors reflect the people they seek to serve and represent.
School closures during the first national lockdown left local authorities with a “legacy of abuse and neglect” to respond to.
Last month’s provisional finance settlement has been published – and sees new funding for adult and children’s social care.
Amid gloomy economic forecasts, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled his Spending Review, which he said aimed to “protect the public services most affected by coronavirus”.
The LGA has called for £1.7 billion in government cuts to early intervention funding to be reversed, as councils prepare for a surge in demand for support for children and young people who have “disappeared” during the pandemic.
English councils received at least 448 individual government grants between 2015/16 to 2018/19 in an increasingly “fragmented and reactive” use of public funding, a new LGA study reveals.
Short-term funding and the lack of a long-term vision for adult social care have hampered local authorities’ ability to innovate and plan for the future, according to a report by the National Audit Office.
The LGA has welcomed a recent report from Sport England that recognises the critical importance of a place-based approach to supporting communities to be active.
‘Landmark’ reforms of mental health laws must also ensure ongoing funding for councils’ mental health services, the LGA has said.