It is good news the Government has announced that the third round of the Levelling Up Fund will be launched in advance of the Autumn Statement. However, while the £1bn of funding will be welcome, the key issue facing local authorities is financial viability. This is what the priority for funding needs to be.

I have consistently argued high quality, properly funded local services should underpin levelling up. We know it is the poorest in society who use our services the most, and it is the poorest communities who have faced, and will continue to face, the biggest impact of cuts to services.