The Local Government Association (LGA) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the technical consultation on the 2017/18 local government finance settlement.
Key messages
- The LGA welcomes the Government's proposals to extend the multi-year offer to include more grants. It should be widened to include all major funding streams allocated to local government.
- Funding available through the improved Better Care Fund in 2017/18 will not be sufficient to address the huge pressures councils face in adult social care services. Authorities should have maximum flexibility over the spending of the funding and reporting requirements should be kept to a minimum; the same also applies to the council tax adult social care precept.
- The LGA does not support council tax referendums; democratically-elected local authorities should be able to set council tax at appropriate levels without the cost and bureaucracy of a referendum process. The Secretary of State should exercise his power not to determine principles for any type of authority for 2017/18.