Briefings and responses

We welcome the publication of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) policy statement, setting out final rules for their implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II).

For local government to maximise its potential and to protect local services from further cuts, it must be made financially sustainable and truly independent.

We are calling for the Government to address the overall funding gap of £5.8 billion facing local government by the end of the decade, and to provide an additional £1.3 billion required to stabilise the adult social care provider market.

By 2019/20, more than half of all English councils, including three quarters of district councils, will no longer receive the revenue support grant.

In this submission we detail the unfunded cost pressures facing local government and why, with many local services facing significant funding gaps, it is vital that the Budget recognises that councils cannot continue without sufficient and sustainable resources.

Read our Autumn Budget on-the-day briefing.

The local government finance settlement is the annual determination of funding to local government from central government. This briefing covers the consultation on the local government finance settlement for 2018/19. We expect the final 2018/19 settlement to be laid before the House of Commons, for its approval, in February 2018.

Almost no new money from central government has been included in the settlement, although the Government has increased the general council tax referendum limit from 1.99 per cent to 2.99 per cent for 2018/19 and 2019/20. 

The final settlement includes an additional £190 million for local government, when compared to the indicative 2018/19 settlement announced this time last year.

Years of unprecedented funding reductions have had a significant impact on the local services our communities rely on, and the knock-on effect on other parts of the public sector.