The County Councils Network (CCN) has called on the next government to provide financial sustainability and funding reforms for local authorities.
Ahead of the next general election on 4 July, the CCN has launched its cross-party ‘Manifesto for Counties’, providing a “blueprint” for “sustainable” county and unitary councils. It sets out four key foundations: sustainable long-term funding; an agenda for reform; localising and devolving; and tackling climate change.
The CCN’s first foundation has called on the incoming government to set out increased and long-term funding for councils in its forthcoming spending review (2025/26), asking for a minimum of a four-year funding settlement for councils.
According to the CCN, which is the representative for 20 county councils and 17 unitary authorities, multi-year “sustainable” settlements are crucial for local government as the sector is at “breaking point”, with it facing a funding shortfall of £2bn between 2023/24 and 2025/26.
Alongside this, the manifesto has asked the next government to also review council tax, business rates and the funding formula for local government finance, citing that the current system is “not fit for purpose”.
A cross-party statement by the leaders of the CCN wrote: “Whoever wins power, the next government inherits a situation with council finances that are extremely precarious.
“Without extra funding and fundamental reform, highly valued local services could reach breaking point, and even well-run local authorities could struggle to balance the books. The next government must urgently set out how it will fund councils once in office, while also adopting our bold and brave agenda for reform.”
The manifesto also called on the next government to introduce price caps in children’s services and the residential care market as costs for care services are consuming 68% of county and unitary councils’ budgets.
According to the CCN, councils overspent on children’s services budgets by £360m last year, with authorities such as Bradford spending £312,000 per child on children’s social care placements annually.
The CCN’s call for long-term funding comes as a recent report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) revealed that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) could receive real-terms cuts after the next spending review.
Oflog reform
The manifesto also stated that the next government should review the role and responsibilities of the Office for Local Government (Oflog).
“CCN members continue to have concerns over the remit and purpose of Oflog, and in particular the severe limitations of the data comparison tool which is open to misinterpretation on council performance,” the manifesto said.
The CCN asked for a “clear statement of policy” on the future of the body to be provided by the next government. On top of this, it has called for the body to be made independent of the DLUHC.
In addition, the CCN stated that the new government should remove the most recent requirement for councils to submit annual productivity plans, citing them as “burdensome and time-consuming”.
Regarding the other foundations, the third has called on the government to build on, not replace, the current devolution approach.
However, the CCN has asked the incoming government to seek to address the imbalances in regional investment between counties and city regions, while encouraging upper-tier authorities to lead on strategic economic planning and delivery.
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