The provisional local government finance settlement was the last main event of a busy 2025.
We always recognised that the Fair Funding Review 2.0 would lead to vastly different outcomes for areas, with some county and unitary councils gaining and others seeing their government grant cut – some significantly so.
Our analysis shows that at least 90 per cent of the County Councils Network’s (CCN) member councils’ much-vaunted increase in total ‘core spending power’ will come from presumed council tax rises of 5 per cent.
We will highlight this in our consultation response, but it is vital that the Government makes more money available to mitigate the impact of the most recent – and unfair – changes to their proposals.
Aside from the redistribution of funding away from county areas, the CCN has worked hard to articulate its members’ concerns in what has been a much-changed year for the organisation.
While our political proportionality has changed following last May’s elections, our ability to work collaboratively and with a single voice has not.
In my short time as CCN Chair, I have enjoyed working cross-party with leaders from across the political spectrum to deliver for county residents, as we work on making our advocacy even stronger.
While individuals may come and go – such is the nature of politics – and while council structures may change, the CCN’s purpose and focus will not.
That’s because our network is about more than a type or function of local government. What makes CCN the natural home for county and unitary authorities, and what binds our network together, is not only the services our councils provide, but also the uniqueness of the places our councillors represent.
The CCN is the national voice for county and large rural unitary authorities in England. Counties, unlike urban areas, contain not only major towns and cities, but also large rural and coastal communities.
We will continue to work as the most prominent counterbalance to the urban-focused and city-centric national representative bodies, engaging existing and new unitary councils who share these common characteristics, and building on the recent addition of North Lincolnshire as the latest unitary council to join our network.
Looking to see what 2026 has to offer, there has scarcely been a more important time for counties and rural unitaries to speak with strength and clarity.
That is why we will not only be focusing on the big, existential issues facing local government – such as special educational needs and disabilities, adult social care, and local government reorganisation – but also those that matter most to our expanding cohort of councils.
These include ensuring that counties’ concerns over planning reforms (particularly the dilution of the local voice within these) are heard loud and clear, as well as advocacy on the challenges in renewing county roads, the rise in temporary accommodation spend in rural areas, and the case to allow all areas to use fiscal devolution powers.
When the Government’s big priority is economic growth, we will continue to bang the drum that county areas are unquestionably the backbone of England’s economy – and ministers won’t achieve the type of productivity gains they are aiming for without our areas firing on all cylinders.
It is shaping up to be another busy and pivotal year. The CCN will continue to make the case for counties, loud and clear.
- For more information, visit the CCN website.