£600 million for local government

The government has announced the councils across England will receive a £600 million support package to help them deliver key services. This is in addition to the funding outlined in the provisional settlement.

£500 million of the funding will be added to the Social Care Grant to bolster social care budgets, a key concern raised by councils.

According to the government, all councils will also see an increase in Core Spending Power of at least 4% through the Funding Guarantee before any local choices on council tax, efficiencies or reserves - an increase from the 3% announced at the provisional settlement.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: "We have listened to councils across England about the pressures they’re facing and have always stood ready to help those in need.

"This additional £600 million support package illustrates our commitment to local government. We are in their corner, and we support the incredible and often unsung work they do day-to-day to support people across the country.

Minister for local government Simon Hoare added: "This injection of funding will help ensure services which people rely on can continue – and demonstrates how important we view local government. We have listened to various organisations and considered their views seriously and I’m grateful to those who reached out to me.

"The funding offers something for all of our hard-working councils, with additional funding for social care as well as help for rural authorities to deliver essential services."

Cllr Shaun Davies, Chair of the Local Government Association, said: “The LGA welcomes that the Government has acted on the concerns we have raised and recognised the severe financial pressures facing councils, particularly in providing services to the most vulnerable children and adults through social care services and delivering core front-line services to communities.

“We will continue to work with Government to achieve a sustainable long term funding settlement and updated distribution mechanisms, as well as legislative reform where needed, so that local government can play its full part in delivering inclusive prosperity and growth through investment to support people, places, and the planet.”

However, the LGA added: "The LGA has warned that councils in England face a £4 billion funding gap over the next two years. Therefore, while positive extra funding will help ease some of the financial pressures they face in 2024/25, councils will still need to raise council tax and many will need to make cuts to local services in order to plug funding gaps."