Local government needs to unite to achieve a sustainable financial future, according to the incoming president of Solace, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives.
Speaking to the society’s annual dinner, Martin Swales, chief executive of South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council, said local government needs a “long term cross departmental financial settlement” in the upcoming spending review in order to “give our communities the fairness and stability they deserve”.
He said: “We must seize the opportunity to stand together and work together through this uncertainty – Solace, the LGA, the various professional bodies, counties, districts, unitaries, London boroughs, mets and cities – in making a case for a single united vision for the future of our sector.”
He added: “It’s about increasing the size of the cake – only then can we determine how it’s sliced. And we must all channel our energies into making this case.”
Swales said he had been encouraged by the positive indications from communities secretary James Brokenshire, local government minister Rishi Sunak and chief secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss “around their determination to achieve a fair and sustainable settlement for local government”.
