The provisional settlement for 2022-23 has been released at last – late again. When will the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities honour the agreed recommendation of the Hudson review (2018) to publish the settlement ‘around 5 December'?

For most district councils, the proposed settlement is the proverbial curate's egg. Districts have experienced the largest drop in Government funding because of austerity. COVID had a disproportionate impact on their finances because they generate a higher proportion of income from sales, fees and charges. They needed to see this acknowledged through higher funding and spending power not just in 2022-23 but across the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) period.