A local government finance taskforce has been launched to help raise the profile of local government funding issues. Thinktank the Local Government Information Unit is backing the new initiative, which will be led by an online group of local government representatives. The group will lobby government to provide more policy clarity on the future of local government funding. The LGIU said: “Local authorities are in a precarious financial situation. With a government preoccupied with Brexit, elections and high-profile issues like NHS failures and the housing crisis, the urgent questions about future council resourcing remain unanswered. Business rate retention policy is in limbo, the fair funding review and social care green paper have been pushed back, and the Revenue Support Grant is still on course to disappear by 2020. Councils are facing a cliff-edge and need answers now.”
Reports
Most read in
- IFRS 9 override extended to 2029 for existing investments(38 views)
- After EFS: Worcestershire s151 Phil Rook on the uncertain road to financial resilience(26 views)
- Richard Harbord: section 114 was never meant for today’s crisis(25 views)
- New: LGPS regional investment special report(23 views)
- Westminster borrows £235m over 42 years to acquire temporary accommodation – an ‘innovative’ solution or should government do more?(22 views)
- ‘Golden opportunity to turn ship around’ must not be squandered in Spending Review, say London boroughs(20 views)
- The rise of the senior LGPS officer: how will the new role impact funds?(19 views)
- Room151 LGPS podcast: investing in venture capital climate solutions(18 views)
- The government’s push to merge pools lacks transparency(18 views)
- Conrad Hall: what next for local authority funding?(17 views)
More from
Conrad Hall: a central/local tension is the cause of the financial crisis – not funding
The local government financial crisis has not been caused by a lack of funding: that’s just a symptom of the inherent conflict of having independent local authorities within a highly centralised state, argues Conrad Hall.
(Shutterstock)