English councils given share of £54.1bn for coming financial year

Councils in England will have access to a share of £54.1bn in funding for the coming financial year, including more than £1bn of additional funding for social care.

The funding marks the largest cash-terms increase in grant funding in ten years, including a one-off Services Grant worth £822m for councils to spend as they see fit on local priorities.

Secretary of State for Levelling Up Rt Hon Michael Gove said: ‘Levelling up can only succeed if our local partners have the powers and resources they need to help transform their communities.

‘Today’s £54.1 billion settlement represents a real terms increase of more than 4.5% from last year and will make sure councils can improve local services, protect vulnerable people and build back better from the pandemic.’

The final finance settlement for the next financial year includes £556m for the New Homes Bonus, bringing the total amount of funding under the scheme to £10bn.

The Lower Tier Services Grant will also provide £111m to councils with responsibility for services such as homelessness, planning, recycling and refuse collection and leisure services, and the Rural Services Delivery Grant is being maintained at £85m.

Responding to the final Local Government Finance Settlement, Cllr James Jamieson, Chairman of the Local Government Association, which represents councils across England, said: ‘We are pleased that today’s final Local Government Finance settlement confirms previously-announced extra grant funding and council tax raising powers in 2022/23 to help councils meet the extra cost and demand-led pressures they face to keep providing services at pre-pandemic levels. For that to happen, every council would have to raise council tax by the maximum allowed without a referendum at a time when they know how tough things are for many low-income working households.

‘However, it is disappointing that the Government has not acted on our call for the final settlement to include further funding to tackle the existing pressures facing our local services, in particular in adult and children’s social care and homelessness support, nor provide investment in vital preventative and early help services. Councils are also increasingly unconvinced that the £5.4 billion allocated for social care through the new Health and Social Care Levy this year will be sufficient to fund adult social care reforms.

‘With future years looking challenging, it is crucial that local services have a long-term, sustainable future which gives councils certainty over their funding. This includes the urgent need for clarity from the Government on which local government funding reforms will happen and when.’

Last week, government also confirmed a £150 non-repayable council tax rebate to households in England in Bands A-D to help with rising costs. The rebate to bills will be made directly by councils to households from April.

Councils will also have a share of the £144 million discretionary funding that can be used to target additional support at those most in need.

In related news, the Levelling Up White Paper needs more detail on how the missions will be achieved in practise, says economic leaders.

Photo by Josh Appel