Responding to the report by the Levelling Up, Housing and
Communities Committee on ‘Financial distress in Local
Authorities’, Cllr Pete Marland, Chair of the Local Government
Association’s Resources Board, said:
“The extra government funding recently announced is positive will
help councils meet some of the pressures they face this year,
particularly in adult and children’s social care. However, as
this report sets out, significant challenges remain going into
2024/25 and beyond.
“Councils have led the way at finding ways to save money and
reduce costs and this work will continue, but they will still
need to raise council tax this year and many will need to
make further savings to local services in order to plug
remaining funding gaps. As the Committee rightly highlights, cost
and demand pressures will continue to stretch council budgets to
the limit. Without further funding, some councils will find
themselves struggling to set balanced budgets in 2024/25 and
potentially unable to do so as they look forward to 2025/26.
“The amount of funding available to councils is out of line with
the requirements placed upon them. As well as needing to address
this, any incoming Government needs to give urgent attention to
the entire system of funding local government to deliver vital
local services, including reform and legislative change.
"With fair, sustainable funding and multi-year settlements
councils can plan ahead and help to deliver against national
priorities such as economic growth, housing, net zero
support for families and children and improved health.”
