The Local Government Association has warned that council are heading towards a ‘funding cliff-edge' in two years' time and demanded that replacement funding is provided by the upcoming Financial Settlement to protect basic services.

The LGA said councils will see their central government funding further cut by more than half, or £2.7bn, over the next two years. Almost half of all councils - 168 districts, counties, unitaries and London boroughs – will no longer receive a penny of this government funding by April 2019. Instead, they will actually have to give some extra business rates income back to the Government.