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.
Councils do a great job and can do more with sufficient funding for essential local services, fairly distributed.
We need new long-term funding for care, both adults and children. Councils are best placed to ensure everyone has access to proper services, being most in touch with residents and used to managing complex delivery of care across large geographical areas.
We have asked for real investment in the climate agenda to enable councils to take the actions they need. The LGA has taken a lead in declaring a climate emergency and there is an explosion of ideas from members – costed and prioritised in terms of the impact on reaching our targets.
“Councils do a great job and can do more with sufficient funding for essential local services”
This is the year to get our initiatives in place, and the sooner we do it, the bigger our impact.
In waste services, we need proper funding for additional burdens such as food waste collection and to uphold the principle of ‘producer pays’.
For housing, we need to retain the funds from Right to Buy and be able to set the prices and discounts. Planning causes huge concern for our members and needs to be properly resourced and locally led.
This is the year to make a difference. The new Chancellor is nothing if not astute. We have provided the evidence to show what’s needed and how much more councils could do. Let’s see how he responds.