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“While it is good the Government will continue to help the public sector as well as businesses keep their energy bills lower and provided some certainty for the next 12 months, we remain deeply concerned about the risk to some council services."

Women who successfully campaigned for the right to vote have been recognised in a definitive list of 100 pioneers published in a special e-book.

"The LGA has long made the case for the importance of green and outdoor spaces for people’s health and wellbeing. This funding is a positive step and will enable more local authorities to create spaces to enable communities to build activity in their daily lives."

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Chair of the LGA’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Board responds to the Government’s announcement in the Spending Review of funding for the UK’s culture, tourism and sport sectors.

Arts Council England and the LGA have developed their first ever online resource to help councils develop innovative ways to invest in culture.

Nearly two thirds of leisure centres are outdated and need urgent new investment from government, the Local Government Association reveals today. New figures, shared with the LGA by Sport England, show that up to 63 per cent of sports halls and swimming pools are more than 10 years old. Nearly a quarter of all sports halls and swimming pools have not been refurbished in more than 20 years. Central government funding for leisure infrastructure reduced by a third over the last decade. The LGA, which represents councils in England and Wales, is calling on government to use the forthcoming

A fresh approach is needed to sustain culture services in the future.

The Commission on Culture and Local Government, launched by the LGA in March, is calling for councils and their local cultural partners to share examples of their work in using culture to support recovery and levelling up.

Long term investment in public sport and leisure facilities is key to supporting efforts to tackle health inequalities exposed by the pandemic, councils say today.

Excluding councils from the Government’s newly created Cultural Renewal Taskforce removes the local voice on cultural renewal, the Local Government Association warns.