Briefings and responses

Local authorities are the primary point of engagement for identifying where refugees are to be resettled, and lead on work with local partners and communities to help families settle into their new homes.

Councils have a vital role in supporting children and young people’s mental wellbeing and ensuring they have the support they need to thrive. We are calling for a cross-Whitehall strategy that puts children and young people at the heart of recovery.

Local authorities continue to play an important role in managing the impacts of welfare reform in their communities, including the rollout of the Universal Credit (UC) Full Service. It is therefore crucial that councils’ concerns about the effect of the rollout of UC on residents and services are listened to by the Government.

Local authorities will face an overall funding gap of £3.1 billion in 2019/20, which we estimate will rise to £8 billion by 2024/25. The pressures are particularly acute in adult social care, children’s services and homelessness support.

Adult social care and support is a vital service in its own right. It helps people of all ages to live the life they want to lead. It binds our communities, helps sustain the NHS and provides essential economic value to our country. Too often health and social care are set on unequal footings, with the latter viewed (sometimes solely) in terms of the role it can play in supporting the former.

Councils want to work with government on developing and funding a better system for accommodating and supporting asylum seekers.

The national housing shortage is one of the most pressing issues we face. The last time this country built more than 250,000 homes a year, councils built more than 40 per cent of them. Only an increase in all types of housing will ensure we can deliver 300,000 homes a year. A genuine renaissance in council housebuilding should play a major role in this.

Vital local services provided by councils face a funding gap of more than £5 billion next year. Councils urgently need some certainty about how local services will be funded

The nation is facing a housing crisis. Dealing with the crisis is vital if we are to ensure that all residents are able to benefit from economic growth.

To help councils and combined authorities close their skills gaps the Government should enable them to coordinate a localised approach to skills. This includes loosening Apprenticeship Levy restrictions. We welcome announcements made on this in the 2018 Budget, but the Government must now go further and faster.