Following the Chancellor Rachel Reeve’s spring statement last week, Chair of London Councils Cllr Claire Holland, said: “The government is right to prioritise boosting economic growth. Whether it’s building new homes, supporting people into work or attracting investment into our local areas, councils have a critical role to play in this mission. However, the crisis in town hall finances is holding us back.

“It’s vital the upcoming Spending Review and planned reform of council funding deliver the investment and financial sustainability boroughs need to drive growth in the capital and across the country. Without this, we risk more and more boroughs entering effective bankruptcy – a situation which would undermine economic confidence, hold back growth, and cost the public purse more in the long run.

“Given the tough fiscal outlook, we must continue to focus on investing in prevention and reform of public services so we can deliver better value for money and better outcomes for our communities. Boroughs are committed to this agenda, but we need funding which enables us to make these long-term changes, as well as dealing with the current pressures which have built up over the last 15 years.”

London Councils is urging the government to use the Spending Review to deliver much-needed investment in local services after more than a decade of structural underfunding and instability – both to provide a sufficient level of funding for existing services, but also to invest in preventative measures to help reduce future need.

London Councils’ Spending Review representation to the government can be found here.

Last week MPs debated the financial pressures facing London boroughs.

The Westminster Hall debate was secured by Calvin Bailey MP (Leyton and Wanstead) and was an opportunity for MPs to discuss the extreme pressures facing boroughs’ budgets.

More than a decade of structural underfunding, combined with rising costs and skyrocketing demand for services such as homelessness support and social care, has led to the current crisis. 

Boroughs receive around 28% less funding per person compared to 2010 and London Councils says boroughs will be left grappling with a funding shortfall of at least £500m in the coming year (2025/26).

You can watch the debate in full here.

If you, or someone you know was contacted to renew their Freedom Pass by 31 March 2025, there is still time to do so. The online portal will be open until 30 April, so please visit secure.freedompass.org/renew now to start the renewal process.

A grace period will run until 1 May 2025, so expired Freedom Passes will still be accepted by TfL and Bus Operators as a flash pass until this date while you wait for your new pass to arrive.

If you have any questions, you can email the team here.