On behalf of its membership, the cross-party LGA regularly submits to Government
consultations, briefs parliamentarians and responds to a wide range of parliamentary inquiries. Our recent
responses to government consultations and parliamentary briefings can be found here.
Councils are proud of their housing and the families that call it home, they are committed to improving standards, to empowering and supporting tenants, and to expanding the stock of social housing for those in need of a secure, quality, affordable home.
We are pleased to submit some headline views on the draft regulations which will enable the creation, via further statutory instruments, of locally- led New Town Development Corporations.
The LGA has set out our vision for youth services as part of our Bright Futures campaign. We are calling on the Government to develop a similar vision that recognises the important contribution youth services make to our communities.
To ensure councils can continue to support their most vulnerable residents, it is crucial Government brings forward plans for long-term reform to the adult social care system and additional funding for child and family support services. As a starting point, returning the Early Intervention Grant to 2010/11 funding levels by providing an extra £1.7 billion would enable councils to reinstate some lost preventative and early help services which help tackle and prevent emerging problems and avoid costs and impact escalating later on.
Councils play an important role, alongside police and other partners, in protecting their communities and assuring that they are safe places to live. A whole society approach, underpinned by a Government commitment to provide long-term funding to councils, is needed to give women and girls confidence that there is not just the will but also the power to improve things through cultural change.
In order to achieve consistently high quality outcomes for children, young people and their carers, social workers must have and maintain the skills and knowledge to establish effective relationships with children, adults and families, professionals in a range of agencies.
Research commissioned by the LGA reveals that the skills gap is worsening. By 2024 there will be more than four million too few high-skilled people to take up available jobs, two million too many with intermediate skills and more than six million too many low-skilled.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, councils have been working closely with the Government to ensure support for new arrivals from Ukraine is put in place quickly and at scale, and families are kept safe.