Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has announced that the government is to allocate a package of support to ensure that councils in England are able to continue delivering their vital services for the next financial services.
The agreement will consist of £59.5 billion being allocated to councils all around the country, with each council benefitting from an additional £5 billion to provide vital frontline services for communities. This comes after continued calls for the government to support local authorities through this tough financial climate, with their services threatened and budgets squeezed.
The funding is set to include:
- A total funding package for councils that sees almost £60 billion invested for the next financial year. This is an increase of 9% when compared to the 2022-23 investment and allows councils to plan ahead with greater security and certainty.
- More funding to areas that need it the most will allow the most deprived areas of England to receive 17% more funding per household.
- A real-terms funding boost across England will see the Local Government Finance Settlements show a real-terms increase in the funding that is available to them, showing support for services across England.
- Support for all tiers of local government is providing around £2 billion of additional grant funding for social care providers, as well as introducing a one-off funding guarantee to ensure that every council sees an increase of 3% in Core Spending Power next year.
- Help for the most vulnerable will be provided through £100 million of additional funding for local authorities to support vulnerable households, with additional support being provided to the 3.8 million households already receiving tax support. This will also help councils to deliver their own local approaches to support for vulnerable households.
Michael Gove, Levelling Up Secretary, said:
“Local government plays a vital role in helping us to level up, support the most vulnerable, and deliver key services that people rely on every single day.
“We recognise the pressures councils are facing right now and this spending boost will provide the support and funding local authorities need to continue delivering first rate public services.”
As well as the delivery of £2 billion of funding to ensure the security of social care provision, the NHS will receive £300 million to help boost capacity and ease patient discharge.
