I understand wholeheartedly the importance of local government to communities up and down the country. They offer lifelines for many and the value of the services offered to local people should not be underestimated.
Councillors and those within the sector have worked extremely hard to deliver for the people they serve throughout issues beyond their control, including rises in inflation and the aftermath of Covid. It is important they are commended, and their efforts supported.
This is why we have announced more than £64 billion in available funding for the sector in 2024-25. This is an increase of almost £4 billion, an above inflation increase, which demonstrates our commitment to supporting councils across the country. Aside from this, we have maintained the Funding Guarantee to ensure every council sees at least a 3% rise in Core Spending Power before any decisions around council tax are made.
I know the importance of ensuring these decisions are right for the local government family. I have been fortunate to serve as a parish, district and county councillor over the space of 13 years before becoming an MP – and was delighted to be returning ‘home’ by becoming the minister for local government. Public service is within my blood and I know this is the case for so many of you that I have met over the years – and spoken to during my time as a minister in this department.
I want to make clear that we are under no illusion that pressures still exist for many local authorities even with the decline in inflation.
We stand ready to speak with any council that has concerns. The Exceptional Financial Support framework is available to provide support where it is clear councils need help balancing their budgets. We will consider requests for support in line with delivering value for local and national taxpayers.
We recognise that local government is facing increased social care demand pressures. We’ve heard your concerns and that is why we published a strategy for reforming children’s social care services – and the provisional settlement includes £1 billion in additional grant for social care, compared to 2023-24.
Overall, local government has seen a real terms increase in the funding available through settlements since 2019.
We strive to work hand-in-hand with our partners in the sector to support their efforts to find new ways of delivering services, through innovation and for unitarisation where this works for local people, but we do not support the so-called four-day working week and remain clear about these efforts. It is not acceptable for a local authority to remove up to a fifth of its capacity and implement part-time work for full-time pay when our taxpayers are working hard day-to-day.
This is why we are inviting proposals to use financial levers within future settlements occurring after 2024-2025 to stop this practice.
I would strongly advise those within the sector to share their thoughts on this and other aspects of the provisional settlement which is being consulted on until 15 January 2024.
I look forward to hearing your views.
Simon Hoare is minister for local government
