Briefings and responses

Early years support forms the basis for future healthy lives, but important services with proven effectiveness, such as support for the first years in life, have seen their funding reduce.

This briefing identifies Government policy initiatives and projects relevant to local government, providing an assessment of their status given the General Election. It also provides an update on the status of key legislation.

The crisis has shown how vital councils are in leading the response to a national emergency. National government has rightly recognised this work and it is vital that councils continue to get further support from the Treasury and adequate funding to ensure their financial position remains viable.

The latest key messages from a general debate on Ukraine in the House of Commons, 25 May 2022.

Councils have a proud history of welcoming new arrivals so that they can build new lives in the UK and they are already helping to support new arrivals from Ukraine and their sponsors.

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.

The LGA’s view is that the best way to increase housing security is to address the unaffordability of housing, which is a key reason why many people lose their tenancy and become homeless.  

Children should be supported to get the best, not just left to get by. Councils can be empowered to support them if the local authority role goes beyond the provision of statutory child protection services alone.

Local authorities take road safety very seriously, and work hard to keep local roads safe by maintaining and improving them. It is vitally important that commuters, businesses, residents and visitors can travel safely and easily within our local areas.

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.