Debate on the future availability of resources for the provision of district council services in two-tier areas, House of Lords, Thursday 19 October 2017

English councils will have had to deal with £16 billion of reductions to Government grant funding by the end of this decade. By 2019/20, more than half of all English councils, including three quarters of district councils, will no longer receive the revenue support grant.


Key messages

  • Funding pressures: English councils will have had to deal with £16 billion of reductions to Government grant funding by the end of this decade. By 2019/20, more than half of all English councils, including three quarters of district councils, will no longer receive the revenue support grant.
  • The Budget: Local services will face a funding gap of at least £5.8 billion by 2019/20. It is vital that the Budget recognises that councils cannot continue without sufficient and sustainable resources. The Government should ensure fair funding for local government, take forward the further devolution of business rates and remove the significant central controls on council tax.
  • Housing: Dealing with the housing crisis is an urgent priority for both national and local government. We are calling on the Government to provide a stable policy environment to allow councils to invest in housing. We need to re-establish self-financing, lift the housing borrowing cap and allow councils to use 100 per cent of the receipt from Right to Buy sales to invest in new homes. There should also be no further increases in the New Homes Bonus threshold.
  • Homelessness: The pressures facing homelessness and temporary accommodation means local government faces a £200 million funding gap by 2019/20. The Government should make cheaper finance available to councils seeking to acquire homes for the use of homeless households at scale. The Local Housing Allowance freeze should be lifted and temporary accommodation should be exempted from the overall benefit cap.
  • Transport: A simplified and longer term approach to funding for local transport would support the Government’s industrial strategy. We are calling on the Government to fully fund the statutory concessionary fares scheme, simplify and give local authorities the same long-term certainty in funding as enjoyed by Highways England and Network Rail, and to invest the equivalent of 2p per litre of existing fuel duty per year to tackle the £12 billion potholes backlog.

Download the full briefing

Debate on the future availability of resources for the provision of district council services in two-tier areas, House of Lords, Thursday 19 October 2017