Delivering what our residents need
Local leadership is never more important than in a wartime theatre, as we feel we are in now.
Local leadership is never more important than in a wartime theatre, as we feel we are in now.
At the time of writing, we are entering the fifth week of the coronavirus lockdown, with the Government having just extended it for at least three more weeks.
I am sure that first readers will join me in saying a big ‘thank you’ to our amazing local government teams, social workers, public health and NHS staff, who are working so hard to treat those suffering from coronavirus.
Keir Starmer’s election as Leader of the Labour Party has already seen a refreshing change in Labour in local government’s relationship with the party leadership.
As someone who has just come out of hospital, I know how hard our NHS staff work.
The final local government funding settlement for 2020/21, laid before Parliament in February, confirmed that councils will receive a share of £49.2 billion in funding (a 4.4 per cent real terms increase).
‘Levelling up’ can only happen if the Government invests tens of billions of pounds more, something that it simply won’t do.
We need to sort out a long-term plan to enable councils to protect children from harm while supporting early help to prevent problems escalating in the first place.
Our members have been vociferous about what we need to see in the forthcoming Budget. We have had a good settlement but only for one year and we need longer-term certainty.