The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee last week published a report into the
range of financial pressures currently faced by councils in England, not least
the rising demand for children’s and adults’ social care.
In their report, the cross-party group of MPs call on the government to fix the £4 billion hole in council funding
arrangements for 2024/25, or risk severe impact to council services and the
prospect of further councils in England facing effective bankruptcy. You can read the LUHC committee report in full here.
Responding
to the report, London Councils' Deputy Chair Cllr Claire Holland said: “The
LUHC Committee’s report provides a thorough assessment of why local authorities
are facing financial distress, and what must be done to prevent more councils
falling over and protect vital local services.
"The government must take the committee’s
recommendations seriously. Now is the time to urgently work with councils to
reform local government funding to ensure it is sufficient to meet the growing
scale of demand, is more fairly distributed, more certain and less centrally
controlled."
The House of Commons is due to debate the state of local government finances later today. London Councils has briefed London MPs on the issues and challenges faced by London local authorities ahead of that debate.