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A major part of the Government’s response to the cost of living crisis has not been available for months to applicants in some parts of the country after councils used up their allocations amid soaring demand. Funding for the Household Support Fund was meant to last until 31 March, but figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show one in six councils ran out of money for applicants at least a month earlier.
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Rishi Sunak is reportedly preparing to announce fiscal measures to help with cost of living crisis before Parliament enters the summer recess. The Chancellor is expected to use fuel price data, which gives an insight into the energy price cap, to decide what additional support he could introduce to help families cope with rising bills.
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Ofgem has announced that the energy price cap, the mechanism which determines gas and electricity bills for 22 million households, could soon be reviewed every three months. It is putting the idea out to consultation amid criticism that the current twice-yearly adjustment arrangement, in April and October, had contributed to the failure of suppliers last year at the height of the wholesale gas price shock.
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The government has published statutory guidance seeking to restrict the level of exit payments made to local government employees above statutory or contractual limits.
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The number of adults waiting for social care in England has risen to more than 500,000 says the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass), similar research last year put the figure at about 294,000. Adass cities a growing shortage of care workers as a reason for the increase, made worse by low pay rates and the cost-of-living crisis.
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The chair of the UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry has asked that the terms of reference be expanded to include the impact of the pandemic on children and young people’s health, wellbeing and education. The impact on the mental health and wellbeing of the entire population should also be investigated, as well as the collaboration between central government, devolved administrations, local authorities and charities.
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The Government could come up with a plan which could cut up to 91,000 civil service jobs to tackle the cost of living, seeing civil service staffing levels drop to 2016 levels. A civil service union warned an "ill thought-out" plan could affect services.
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People could be able to vote on planning applications, such as house extensions and loft conversions, on their street, under proposed planning reforms introduced as part of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. In an interview with Radio 5 Live, Cllr David Renard, housing spokesperson for the LGA, said: “We all want nice places to live, and we want a planning system that enables that to happen. The current system has checks and balances in it which allows all parties to take a view on a planning application."
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The UK economy shrank by 0.1 per cent in March, as rising living costs and the war in Ukraine halted recovery, Office for National Statistics data reveals. Experts warn that the risk of a recession in the UK is growing, with Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak confirming that retail sales had also slowed and consumer confidence decreased.
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The Procurement Bill has been published.
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Local authorities will be given new powers to double council tax on second homes under new draft legislation presented to parliament yesterday.
The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill has stipulated that councils will be able to introduce a new discretionary council tax premium on second homes of up to 100%.
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The Government is leaving open the possibility of abandoning or changing the White Paper's levelling up missions and can delay reporting on them until after the general election.
Published yesterday, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill states that ministers may decide not to pursue a levelling up mission, and that they can revise the list of missions.
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The Department for Education today announced a further £7m for schools and colleges to train a senior mental health lead.
Senior mental health leads are tasked with creating a culture of openness in schools and colleges when it comes to mental health, as well as forging stronger links with local health services.
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More than 100,000 extra tonnes of rubbish was sent to landfill during lockdown, the latest figures reveal as Government misses 50% recycling target.
Household recycling rates in England fell from 46% in 2019 to 44% in 2020, according to the Government’s data.
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The Government has published the levelling up Bill which promises to transform struggling towns and cities and support local leaders to take back control of regeneration.
The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill will enshrine in law the Government’s commitment to long-term missions to spread opportunity, drive productivity and boost local pride in every corner of the country.
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With the UK Government pushing its Levelling Up strategy, Lancashire County Council are set to establish a new levelling up fund of their own, in order to help kick-start some of the multi-million pound projects that they have in the pipeline.
This fund is designed to compliment the central government’s Levelling Up agenda and can be used to support district councils in making their bids to the nationwide fund, as well as supporting them with getting started with their major projects, with Preston’s pitch for £20 million for everything from replacing the Old Tram Bridge to investing in some of its parks.
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CIPFA has welcomed government proposals to take greater intervention powers over council finances, saying they could help identify potential problems at an earlier stage.
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North Somerset Council has earmarked its Castlewood offices for sale, having bought them in 2009 for £12.6m and used them since 2010 as the primary office location for many services, including public-facing services such as the Job Centre Plus and registration service.
The unitary authority said in a document that an office amalgamation programme in 2012 had “substantially reduced” the number of buildings the council uses, and “efficiency exercises” have reduced the workforce from about 1800 people to about 1400.
But the effect of Covid-19 on working habits has had the largest impact, it said.
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People will be given the right to vote on proposed property extensions in their area as part of new planning reforms, the government says.
Minister Michael Gove said the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill would help "build communities that people love and are proud of".
The plan sees previous proposals which made it harder to block development dropped after a backlash from Tory MPs.
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Senior local government figures have warned that there needs to be a "far bolder" approach to achieve levelling up, and have urged ministers to speed up the pace of devolution.
The government revealed details of its Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill in the Queen's speech yesterday.
Local Government Association chair James Jamieson (Con) responded by warning that areas outside city regions have "remained stuck in the devolution slow lane”.
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The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill announced in the Queen’s speech has not “taken us further forward from the white paper”, the chair of the Commons' levelling up, housing & communities committee has said.
Speaking to LGC, Clive Betts (Lab), said he didn’t think the announcement was doing “much more to help the most deprived communities” and pointed out that there wasn’t “any more money announced” for levelling up in the speech.
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Levelling up secretary Michael Gove has ditched his targets to build 300,000 homes in year in a bid to get public support for developments.
Speaking to Radio Four’s Today programme this morning, he said he would do ‘everything we can’ to increasing supply, but admitted: ‘I don’t think we are going to hit that target this year.’
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After much delay, last month the Government finally announced how its replacement for EU regional development funding – the Shared Prosperity Fund – will be allocated across the country.
In spite of it being almost five years since the fund was first announced, the answer for England at least, is: in much the same was as EU funds were prior to Brexit. This is a real missed opportunity, with inequities in the EU funding regime that could have been addressed instead entrenched in the new system.
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The government will not be bringing forward an emergency budget in light of the cost of living crisis, but "will be saying more and doing more to help people", Michael Gove has said.
Responding to the government's Queen's Speech on Tuesday, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer claimed the government was "bereft of ideas" as the nation heads towards a "stagflation crisis".
In response, Boris Johnson replied: "We will continue to use all our ingenuity and compassion for as long as it takes and the chancellor and I will be saying more about this in the days to come."
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The UK economy shrank in March, as soaring living costs and the war in Ukraine hindered recovery from the pandemic.
Experts warned that a plunge in household incomes meant trouble ahead for the economy and that the risk of a recession was growing.
Official figures show the economy grew by 0.8 per cent between January and March, down from growth of 1.3 per cent in the previous three months.
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Conrad Hall has written an open letter to the levelling up secretary suggesting an unusual (and tongue-in-cheek) proposal to help councils predict next year’s government grant.
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Local authority borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board remains low following four Bank of England interest rates hikes, after councils capitalised on record low finance last year, according to experts.
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The local government secretary will get new powers to direct asset sales and borrowing levels at councils deemed to be at financial risk, under a clause in this week's Levelling Up Bill.
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Council-maintained schools in England outperform academies in Ofsted rankings, according to analysis published on the day the government’s ambitions for all schools to join multi-academy trusts (Mats) are expected to be outlined in the Queen’s speech.
Research conducted on behalf of the Local Government Association (LGA) found 92% of council-run schools were ranked outstanding or good by Ofsted in January 2022, compared with 85% of academies that have been graded since they converted.
It also found only 45% of academies that were already an academy in August 2018 managed to improve standards from inadequate or requires improvement to good or outstanding, compared with 56% of council-maintained schools.
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Boris Johnson has promised to get the country "back on track" as the government unveils its plans for the year ahead in the Queen's Speech.
The speech is expected to focus on boosting economic growth, but the PM will say that the UK cannot spend its way out of trouble and will need to grow the economy.
In all, 38 parliamentary bills are due to be unveiled.
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The Government has committed to an overhaul of business rates in the Queen’s Speech.
Although absent from the speech itself, it has been confirmed a ‘Non-Domestic Rating Bill’ will form part of the agenda during the next Parliamentary session.
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The Queen’s Speech has confirmed a levelling up Bill will include legislation on planning and regeneration reform.
In his speech Prince Charles said the government would ‘level up opportunity in all parts of the country’ and that ‘a Bill will be brought forward to drive local growth, empowering local leaders to regenerate their areas, and ensuring everyone can share in the United Kingdom’s success’.
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Boris Johnson warned today that Britain must take short-term pain to boost the economy in the longer term as he unveiled a Queen’s Speech to “create jobs and spread opportunity” around the country.
In a speech delivered for the first time by the Prince of Wales, the government said its priority was to take a “responsible approach to the public finances” and committed itself to continue bringing down debt despite the cost of living crisis.
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Councils in England will be able to double council tax on unoccupied second homes to boost funding for local services, under plans to be confirmed in the Queen’s Speech this week. English councils will be given powers to levy a premium of up to 100 per cent on council tax bills for second homes that are furnished but not occupied as a sole or main residence. They will also be able to discourage owners from leaving other properties vacant for long periods by doubling the standard council tax rate after just one year.
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Ukrainian refugees have been placed with hosts who are unvetted and in unsuitable homes as the Government is yet to give councils any funding for vital safety checks. The LGA said councils had reported issues with the information they are getting from government, saying it is arriving too slowly, there is data missing, host contact details are not always correct, and it does not provide refugees’ arrival dates.
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Michael Gove, the cabinet minister for levelling up, has said that rising prices are making the Government’s plans to reduce regional inequalities more difficult and more important. A BBC Panorama investigation, to be aired tonight, has raised questions about whether the money is reaching the most deprived areas in England.
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This week’s local elections packed a few surprises. PF examines the results in authorities whose finance departments have been in the news during recent months.
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Councils have called for clarity over proposed compensation levels after the government announced it will press ahead with plans to remove large telecom companies and railway services from local authority business rates billing lists.
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Boris Johnson will reportedly reshuffle his cabinet before the summer recess which begins on July 21
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Twenty-eight councils in the most deprived areas of England have had their bids for a £1.7 billion levelling up fund rejected, according to an investigation.
Described by Boris Johnson as the “defining mission” of his government, levelling up aims to reduce geographic economic, social and health inequalities.
Last year ministers allocated the first round of levelling up funding — £1.7 billion — from central government, but questions have been raised over the process.
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High inflation could remain until 2024 and will be a “massive shock to the system” for a generation, a former chief economist at the Bank of England has warned.
Andy Haldane, now a government adviser, said inflation had “surpassed my worst expectations” and was likely to exceed 10 per cent. He also said the Bank should have acted sooner than last autumn when raising interest rates.
Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, admitted yesterday that the government “can’t do everything to help” but confirmed that he was preparing to do more. He told BBC Look East: “We are not the only country facing higher energy prices or higher inflation. We can do things to support people and we are going to do what we can. I wish I could make it completely go away, but I can’t.”
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The results of the local elections across the country will continue to roll in throughout the day, with many English councils already declared. As it stands, the Conservative party have lost control of six councils. Barnet, Wandsworth and Westminster councils in London have all been gained by Labour as well as Southampton on the south coast, and the Liberal Democrats gained control of Kingston upon Hull.
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Bristol was given the choice of a mayor or a committee system, and decided to abolish its directly elected mayor following a referendum. Some 56,113 voted to remove the post, with a turnout of 29 per cent.
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The Bank takes a big red pen to its earlier forecasts and sees a risk of economic contraction ahead as inflation is now predicted to surge to levels not seen for four decades.
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Some households across the country are still waiting for the £150 council tax rebate, aimed at helping millions to combat the rising cost of living. Councils have been told to pay the money “as soon as possible” but some have reported delays in receiving the money.
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Clive Betts, chair of Parliament's Levelling Up, Housing and Communities?Committee has urged the government to provide additional funding to help authorities mitigate services pressures stemming from the housing of Ukrainian refugees.
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The government has announced initial payments to help cover local authorities’ costs incurred when delivering the council tax rebate policy aimed at helping the public through the cost-of-living crisis.
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Central government inaction on giving councils in England the ability to hold remote meetings is preventing authorities from reducing the financial and environmental cost of transport, according to two industry bodies.
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Government negotiations with the nine areas in the first wave of county deals are not progressing as quickly as some had expected, as authorities await more details of legislative changes.
However, a source close to negotiations told LGC those willing to adopt the government’s preferred directly elected mayor model under the ‘level three’ deals are being “pushed to the front of the queue”.
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The government has revealed the amount of money every billing authority will get to help it deliver the £150 council tax rebate.
The Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities has written to all authorities to announce the £28m of grants, which range from £14,557 for City of London Corporation to £525,034 for Birmingham City Council.
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Councils have been warned by local government employers to budget for pay rises of at least 4% this year, The MJ understands.
A senior local government source said they had been told to factor in the rises covering the pay settlement for the year 2022-23.
However, it is understood many councils have not allowed for such a rise in their budgets and fear it will be difficult to fund.
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The Government will not provide funding to councils to support refugees arriving under the Homes for Ukraine scheme if they fail to supply timely data.
A letter to council chief executives said the funding of £10,500 for each refugee was subject to conditions, including data returns on the number of beneficiaries and when checks have been carried out.
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The Government has been urged to reinstate the COVID infection control fund (ICF) by groups representing care providers and staff.
Trade union Unison and the Care Provider Alliance (CPA) have written a joint letter to health secretary Sajid Javid calling for the fund, which ended in March, to return.
They argued the removal of the ICF at a time when virus rates are still high was an ‘incredibly dangerous move’ that will ‘cost lives’.
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Hundreds of thousands of people are facing long waits for cash designed to ease the cost of living crisis because of council failures.
Minister have written to all local authorities to warn that they are “monitoring the delivery” of the Treasury-funded £150 council tax rebate.
Councils have been told to pay the money “as soon as possible” but people across Britain have reported delays in receiving the money
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Councils are seeing a “concerning increase” in the number of Ukrainian new arrivals presenting as homeless, says Cllr James Jamison, LGA Chairman, with 144 households approaching 57 councils as homeless, according to an LGA survey conducted in April. Labour MP Clive Betts has written to refugees minister Lord Harrington, suggesting that Ukrainian refugees should be able to transfer on to the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme if their relative cannot provide accommodation under the family visa scheme, and should not require a sponsor before arriving.
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The Bank of England has raised the base rate of interest to 1% - the fourth consecutive increase as it continues to move against surging inflation - despite issuing a warning about a recession ahead.
The Bank forecast that the UK economy will shrink later this year in the face of double-digit inflation and an unprecedented squeeze on household incomes.
In its first forecast since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Bank said it now expected the energy price crunch to leave a lasting scar, pushing up unemployment and contributing to weak or negative growth throughout 2023.
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Lawyers suggest that many of the more than 800 businesses fined for COVID-19 breaches during the pandemic could have strong claims for an appeal. Lucinda Nicholls, of the London law firm Nicholls & Nicholls, said that she had brought 25 challenges on behalf of businesses so far with only two being quashed.
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The number of unaccompanied children making the journey across The Channel to Britain has increased by three and a half times compared to last year. Analysis of government figures shows 7,240 people have reached the UK in small boats in just the past four months since the start of 2022.
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Pensioners could reportedly be left on council waiting lists to qualify for the new cap on care costs. Almost 300,000 pensioners who pay for and arrange their own care will need to enter into the local authority system if they want to take advantage of the changes to funding coming into effect next year. Older people qualifying to have their care paid for the first time because the upper capital limit is increasing from £23,250 to £100,000 will also have to join the waiting list. The LGA warned that the “additional demand is coming at a time when there’s already a backlog of 400,000 people waiting for an assessment of their social care needs”. A spokesman said: “The care cost cap is just one strand of the Government’s charging reforms and we remain concerned that the funding earmarked for the reforms in their entirety is insufficient. The Government must commit to keeping funding and timescales under close and regular review.”
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Poorer areas have been hit disproportionally by a combination of cuts to neighbourhood services such as parks, libraries, refuse collection and children’s centres that have left English councils “hollowed out” since 2010, a major report into local government has concluded.
The study by the Institute for Government thinktank found that while some councils coped better than others, and reduced spending did not necessarily mean worse results, a lack of information made it difficult to learn lessons.
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Boris Johnson wants to give millions of people the right to buy the homes they rent from housing associations in a major shake-up, it is reported. The Prime Minister has asked officials to develop the plans after believing the idea would help “generation rent”, with the proposal intended to give 2.5 million households in England who rent properties from housing associations the power to purchase their homes at a discounted price.
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The flagship Covid tutoring scheme to help pupils catch up has not been used by two in five schools, it has emerged, prompting the Education Secretary to write to teachers. The National Tutoring Programme has been criticised, with many teachers still not using the schemes and schools reporting problems with an online portal.
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Ex-Barking & Dagenham chief says councils have the ability to stop many vulnerable people from tipping into crisis
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Financial pressure on councils means some pupils with additional needs can’t access the help they need, data also shows that some children are travelling hundreds of miles to get to school. The LGA said that "no council will be wanting to raise thresholds, but the extreme financial pressure is probably meaning some are making decisions for reasons they may not necessarily choose to".
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The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities is not making public the data it holds on Ukrainians presenting to councils as homeless, LGC can reveal.
The revelation prompted alarm from the chair of the Commons levelling up committee who has blasted the scheme and the withholding of information as a “dysfunctional disaster”.
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Public bodies could face pressure from growing direct costs alongside impacts from inflated prices for third party suppliers, according to the Office for National Statistics.
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Shropshire Council is set to scale back its capital spending plans by more than £100m by 2025-26 amid concerns over debt servicing costs.
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Councils are facing soaring costs to re-procure outsourced services as new financial pressures begin to bite.
Suppliers are hiking prices, leading to warnings that inflation will ‘make or break’ council budgets this year.
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The government has been urged to pay higher wages to workers in the "Cinderella" social care sector - or risk an acceleration of the exodus to higher-paid jobs in "warehouses, supermarkets and with online retailers".
That is the message from Unison in the wake of a hard-hitting Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) report published yesterday, which recommends an eventual minimum pay rate of 39% above the national living wage (NLW).
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Organised criminal fly-tipping gangs are on the rise - and costing councils millions.
A new report says the government is fighting a losing battle against the menace and latest figures show the reported number of complaints against it has topped a million.
A National Audit Office (NAO) investigation shows the number of reported fly-tipping incidents, most of which involve small van-loads of household waste dumped on highways, has soared over the past decade, reaching more than 1.13 million in 2020/21 - costing local authorities £11.6 million to clear up.
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Every seven minutes a private renter in England is handed an eviction notice even though they have done nothing wrong, new figures reveal.
Nearly 230,000 private renters have been served with so-called Section 21 evictions since 2019 - also known as a 'no-fault eviction' notice - meaning they have just two months to leave the property.
It's feared the rising cost of living combined with a hike in evictions could make thousands of private renters homeless and worsen the housing crisis.
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Asylum seekers’ accommodation is “unsafe” due to inadequate healthcare, while poor living conditions are exacerbating or creating mental and physical health problems, according to a new report by Doctors of the World.
The charity’s research, published on Wednesday, details the barriers to medical care and medication for asylum seekers in initial accommodation across the UK.
Evidence gathered by Doctors of the World shows that a failure to meet basic human standards in hotels and former military barracks such as Napier in Folkestone has exacerbated depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health concerns among asylum seekers.
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Local authorities will receive £5.4bn from the Health and Social Care levy up to 2024-25, but it is unclear how the government will allocate £1.7bn of that pot which is currently unallocated, Adrian Jenkins Director at advisors Pixel Financial Management said.
Speaking to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee yesterday, voiced disappointment that this lack a clarity on funding is hampering planning.
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The gap in local government income and spending fell by £6.4bn from the £7.1bn surplus in 2020-21, according to end-of-year net borrowing statistics published by the ONS today.
Overall public borrowing shrank to £151.8bn in 2021-22, from the £317bn of debt financed in the previous year, the ONS said.
The report said that the Covid-19 pandemic “has had a substantial impact on the economy as well as public sector borrowing”.
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Council tax rebates worth £150 are starting to be paid into bank accounts up and down the country from this month.
But whether you have already received the payment or not is down to a postcode lottery.
Some households face waiting months for the £150 to land in their account, with councils officially having until September 30 to issue the money.
The Mirror has checked in with dozens of local authorities and has highlighted ten places where the rebate hasn’t yet been processed.
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Local authorities are not immune to the inflationary pressures consumers are experiencing, writes the local government policy manager at the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy.
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Local authorities will struggle to meet a government deadline to submit evidence about social care fair funding to Whitehall, senior figures in the sector have warned MPs.
Sarah Pickup, deputy chief executive of the Local Government Association, was among those raising concerns while giving evidence to the Commons levelling up, housing & communities committee's inquiry into the long-term funding of adult social care.
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The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities sought to allow private accountancy firms to bid for some of the LGA's annual sector support grant, LGC can reveal.
However, after what a source close to the negotiations called a “big under the radar pushback” from the LGA, the decision was reversed and the lobbying body will now receive 4% more in government grant than it received last year.
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The cost-of-living crisis “risks levelling down Britain”, the former education secretary has said.
Speaking to LGC, Justine Greening who was formerly the MP for Putney and now leads the social mobility pledge, said this was down to families and communities who already faced challenging circumstances being hit the hardest by the current crisis.
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A call has been made for an investigation into how the infection control fund was spent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Giving evidence to MPs, Unison’s officer for social care, Gavin Edwards, said the funding stream, which ended last month, was not always used for its intended purpose by care providers.
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Councils are in the dark on how much funding they will receive for adult social care funding under central government reforms, MPs have been told.
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Councils received £700m more than they spent last year, down 90% on the 2021-22 surplus, while the overall public sector deficit fell by more than a half.
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Further delays to the audits of 2020/21 local authority accounts have been attributed to issues over the valuation of infrastructure assets that are affecting a significant number of upper-tier councils.
Chris Tambini, president of the Society of County Treasurers (SCT), told Room151 that this was “potentially a major issue for all upper-tier local authorities”. It is currently affecting those authorities that have not already had their 2020/21 accounts signed off and is likely to impact a larger number of councils for their 2021/22 accounts.
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Almost half of councils in England and Wales now use parking machines that don’t accept cash, but instead require drivers to pay via a mobile phone app or bank card, a Freedom of Information Act request reveals. Campaigners at Age UK are concerned that with just 50 per cent of people over 65 using a smartphone, cashless parking could be difficult. Cllr David Renard, transport spokesperson for the LGA, said: “Like so many organisations, councils have found the public welcome the convenience of online technology. But they also pay close attention to the needs of those for whom online payment isn’t attractive.”
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Between 2015-16 and 2018-19, awards from the council’s Mayoral Neighbourhood Fund (MNF) regularly lacked application forms or other relevant paperwork, a report going to an audit committee this week said.
It said the council failed to provide terms and conditions to charities, which received around half the fund’s £1m yearly budget, and it did not request or collect data on how the money was spent.
Prior to a council review in February 2019, third sector organisations were given funding without providing evidence that the money was spent in line with the objectives of Liverpool's city plan, the report said.
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Families will have to wait for up to six months for their £150 council tax rebates after local authorities failed to prepare and missed government deadlines.
Only a fraction of councils have credited taxpayers with the handout, designed to help some 28 million pay for soaring energy bills, despite assurances that the "vast majority" would receive support this month.
Many said residents would not receive payments until late May or in some cases even September because they needed to implement new software to facilitate the payments.
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Former Treasury minister Lord Agnew’s resignation speech in the House of Lords in January will not be easily forgotten.
In it, he characterised oversight by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and the British Business Bank as “woeful” and described the Treasury as having “no knowledge or little interest in the consequences of fraud to our economy or society”.
Lord Agnew drew on what has been an enduring organisational problem, especially during Covid-19, for the public and private sector alike — the failure to implement a systemic approach to anti-corruption.
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Balfour Beatty Living Places (BBLP) has operated a facilities management contract since 2013, but Grant Thornton’s 2020-21 audit report found that the firm has been dormant through the duration of the agreement.
In January 2021, the council found that BBLP was dormant on Companies House, but the authority failed to take legal advice until GT raised concerns in March 2022, the report added.
The report said: “We consider the council’s contract appointment and management arrangements include a significant weakness, as it did not establish the validity of contracting and continuing to trade with a company that was dormant or otherwise non-trading from a formal perspective.”
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In December, the two authorities agreed to submit a request to the government to form South Warwickshire District Council from April 2024, in a bid to streamline services and save money.
However, the councils confirmed in a joint statement that they will abandon the merger, as Stratford said it would be unable to complete due diligence on a Warwick housing company before a government response next month.
The joint statement said: “There is a significant difference between the approaches and ambitions of the two councils that have proved to be irreconcilable, and this means that a joint request, subject to council approval, will now be made to the government to stop the merger process.
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Margaret Thatcher created an entire new class in Britain.
Her flagship ‘right-to-buy’ policy redefined housing across the country, providing legal rights to shift ownership from councils to their former tenants at a knock-down price, and with it moving the state’s control over peoples’ lives. The prime minister won swathes of voters as a result.
“Thousands of people in council houses and new towns came out to support us for the first time because they wanted a chance to buy their own homes,” Thatcher said in May 1979, just after the election when she ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan.
“It will give to more of our people that freedom and mobility and that prospect of handing something on to their children and grandchildren which owner-occupation provides.”
Fast forward more than 40 years and multiple governments, and housing secretary Michael Gove has invoked some of the same spirit - if in a slightly unexpected direction. He has proposed boosting social rented property as a cheaper alternative to private rents.
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The government plans to axe section 106 agreements in favour of an infrastructure levy, but Richard Harbord warns that consultation paralysis, levelling-up concerns and developer opposition could block any progress.
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Voters want their local councils to improve roads and provide more affordable housing, a new poll has found.
The survey carried out by Ipsos ahead of the local elections on May 5 found 50% of people thought improving the condition of roads and pavements should be a top priority for councils.
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Inflation is back. If you are under 35 years of age you were probably still in school when it was something that had to be taken seriously so it’s fair to say that corporate memories are fading.
A little bit of inflation can actually be desirable for the economy. It incentivises investment and allows the real value of debt to fall.
However, it is a very delicate balancing act. Once the inflation rate outpaces wage growth, workers experience a pay cut (in real terms).
How can treasurers in the public sector manage inflation challenges?
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The council completed construction of a new office building in The Sands area of Durham city last month, accommodating up to 1,200 staff members.
However, next week, councillors will consider proposals in a report outlining a plan to sell the property to Durham University, with the receipts funding the construction of three smaller offices.
The report said that this would mean a slightly reduced office capacity, but that "any shortfall can be readily accommodated through the revision of capacity in the council’s other facilities, following the introduction of flexible working practices”.
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Chief executives of some of the UK’s largest energy suppliers have called on the Government to abolish the existing energy price cap in favour of a new system that would see the better off pay more. The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee heard how these “unprecedented” measures are needed to prevent a fuel poverty crisis next winter.
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LGC reveals concerns that the government’s slowness to respond to consultations is affecting councils’ work.
Ministers have failed to respond to more than 40 consultations which impact on local government’s work, leading to concern that councils are being hindered by limited central capacity, LGC research shows.
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Civil servants must stop working from home and return to the office to ensure government buildings are at full capacity, ministers have been told.
Cabinet Office minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has written to cabinet colleagues urging them to send a "clear message" to the civil service about returning.
The FDA union said his comments were out of step with practice in the private sector.
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After years of disruption, many firms are hoping for things to return to normal. But it's not yet business as usual.
The recent spike in Covid cases has caused havoc, with staff sickness impacting entire supply chains.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is now calling for all companies to be given free or cheap lateral flow tests.
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The war in Ukraine will "severely set back" the global economic recovery with the UK hit harder than most, the International Monetary Fund has said. This means the UK will no longer be the fastest growing economy in the G7, and will be the slowest in 2023, it says.
The UK's economy is now predicted to grow by 3.7% this year, down from the previous forecast of 4.7% made in January.
However, next year, the UK is expected to have the slowest growth in the G7 and across Europe's main economies, at just 1.2%, a near halving from the 2.3% expected previously. The 2023 UK figure is the slowest apart from heavily-sanctioned Russia in the wider G20,
UK inflation is expected to be 5.3% next year - the highest in the G7, and higher than all EU members, and only exceeded in the G20 by crisis-ridden Argentina, Turkey and Russia.
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Britain’s economy is at risk of falling into a summer recession amid a squeeze on household incomes, according to economists at the bank IMG. Analysts warned that economic activity would also be reduced by an extra bank holiday for the Queen’s platinum jubilee in June.
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The national living wage could rise by 20% in two years, sparking alarm for senior finance officers who are in the eye of the inflation storm.
There are fears councils will need to make further service cuts as they face surging costs to heat their buildings, plus significant price rises in many other areas.
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Proposals to abolish section 106 charges in favour of a new infrastructure tax could disincentivise investment in poorer regions, working against 'levelling up', according to experts.
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Britain’s economy is at growing risk of falling into a summer recession amid the biggest squeeze on household incomes since the mid 1950s, as soaring inflation curtails consumer spending power, forecasters have said.
Economists said the double blow from slowing post-lockdown growth and rising living costs after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could result in a fall in gross domestic product (GDP) for two consecutive quarters, which is the definition of a recession.
After a weaker-than-expected growth performance in February, and with the inflation rate reaching the highest levels since 1992 last month, City forecasters said UK GDP was now on track to grow by about 1% in the first quarter of 2022 before slipping into reverse this summer.
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Councils in England are paying more than £1m a year for a single place in privately run children’s homes, with operators citing the cost of living crisis as a reason for raising their prices, the Guardian has learned.
Private providers have been accused of making “obscene” profits out of some of society’s most vulnerable children, as local authorities reveal they are being quoted as much as £50,000 a week (£2.6m a year) for one child.
Children with complex needs – such as having received death threats, behavioural problems, autism spectrum disorders or being a danger to themselves or others – may require supervision from staff with specialist training, or numerous carers.
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Council leaders have welcomed a Government announcement of additional funding for local areas to tackle drug dependency as an ‘important step forward’.
Communities in England most affected by drug-related crime and addiction will receive over £300m of additional funding over the next three years to strengthen treatment and recovery services, the Department of Health and Social Care announced yesterday.
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UK households feeling the squeeze of the cost of living crisis will receive a council tax rebate this spring to mitigate rising prices.
The one-off £150 payment forms part of a series of a £9.1bn Treasury support package unveiled by Rishi Sunak in February.
Unlike a separate £200 energy bill rebate being made later in the year, the rebate will not need to be repaid.
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The annual rate of inflation shot up to a fresh 30-year high of 7% in March reflecting, for the first time, the immediate effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The largest contributors to growing inflation were increased fuel prices and energy bills, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The consumer prices index (CPI) rose from 6.2% in February and was higher than expected, with economists having predicted a rate of 6.7%.
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Developers have pledged to pay a combined £5bn to fix buildings with dangerous cladding and other fire safety issues, according to the housing secretary.
Thirty-five of the UK's biggest housebuilders have signed an agreement to pay a minimum of £2bn to fix their buildings.
Another £3bn is expected to be raised through an expansion to the Building Safety Levy that will be chargeable on all new residential buildings in England.
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Communities across the United Kingdom will benefit from £2.6bn of government funding being allocated today to help spread opportunity and level up the country.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will see places that need it most draw up plans this year to deliver on their local priorities, based on a conditional allocation of funding over the next three years.
This could include regenerating rundown high streets, fighting anti-social behaviour and crime, or helping more people into decent jobs, helping to revive communities, tackle economic decline and reverse geographical disparities in the UK, the government said.
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Councils should drill deeper into their data to provide the government with more "granular" and more regular reports, an official review recommends.
But, despite the probable extra workload, an expert from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountability said it could "help decision making" and improve relationships between the government and local authorities.
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Public sector pay for jobs such as NHS workers, teachers and civil servants fell further behind price rises in the three months to February, figures show. While wages rose for public sector workers, price rises outpaced them meaning a 3% drop in spending power, the biggest fall in 20 years. In contrast, an average private sector employee's wage bought 0.5% less.
The latest inflation figures show the cost of living is rising at its fastest pace for 30 years. "Basic pay is now falling noticeably in real terms," said Darren Morgan from the Office for National Statistics describing the fall in spending power. The most recent figures show that inflation reached 6.2% in February and new data, due out on Wednesday, is expected to show a further rise in March.
The ONS said the unemployment rate fell to 3.8% from 3.9% last month. Capital Economics said the fall in unemployment was mainly due to people taking themselves out of the workforce by retiring or by looking after family or long-term sick.
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Councils could be stripped of responsibility for Britain’s counter-terror programme under recommendations in a long-awaited review of Prevent.
William Shawcross, the former chairman of the Charity Commission leading the review, is expected to propose an independent network of Prevent professionals free from council control and with a greater focus on national security.
It follows growing criticism that the programme has failed to stop numerous terrorists in the past five years, including Ali Harbi Ali, the killer of Sir David Amess who was referred to Prevent but left unchecked after only one meeting to carry out the attack.
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By Richard Humphries (Senior adviser to the Health Foundation and Newton Europe):
Last September the Government announced its ‘Build Back Better’ plan for health and social care.
This featured the introduction of an £86,000 cap on lifetime care costs, a far more generous upper financial means test threshold, the ability for self-funders (people who pay for their own care) to access care and support at the council-funded rate, and plans for councils to pay providers a ‘fair rate of care’.
The Government deserves credit for resurrecting plans to protect people from catastrophic costs, after three decades of inaction where successive governments failed to grasp the nettle. But six months on from the announcement, there are worrying signs that delivery of the reforms is heading for trouble.
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By Simon Edwards (CCN):
It has taken three years, but the end of last month saw the release of the Government’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Green Paper.
In the years since a review was first announced in 2019, County Councils Network (CCN) member authorities’ collective SEND deficits have risen dramatically and could reach £1.3bn this year. Only a handful of councils are in the black, so it is an understatement to say this paper has arrived at a critical time.
The root cause of the costs spiralling out of control are the legislative changes in the 2014 Children’s Act have which led to a huge increase in demand for education, health and care plans (EHCPs). The number of young people on EHCPs rose by 72% from 2016 to 2021 in county areas alone.
Proposals to address the future demand pressures in EHCPs through a set of national standards are welcome... However, it remains to be seen whether the paper can adequately address the substantial deficits many of our member councils currently have. Beyond the ‘Safety Valve’ programme, which are bespoke agreements with individual councils, there appears little to address the serious financial issues local government faces.
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The local authority sector has warned that government plans to ban charges for disposing of DIY waste from households threaten to pressure council finances further “beyond breaking point”.
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The section 151 officer at Cornwall Council has called on the government to implement reforms to planning and tax rules to help local authorities urgently respond to the housing crisis.
Tracie Langley, who is also Cornwall’s chief operating officer, told Room151 that the county faced a number of housing issues including: a seasonal workforce that increases demand; private sector rental owners “flipping” their properties into holiday lets; and derelict former tin-mining areas that are difficult to regenerate without government investment.
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Proposed government reforms to adult social care will place huge additional burdens on local authorities with significantly increased costs. Leigh Whitehouse discusses the forecast impact at Surrey County Council and calls for a pause in the implementation to review the policy.
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Families who offer their second homes to Ukrainians will get a 50 per cent council tax discount under new laws to be laid before Parliament today. Discounts for lone householders who take in new arrivals will also be protected.
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Fees for disposing of DIY waste at council recycling centres in England could be banned under government plans set out in a consultation today.
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Local Government Pension Scheme employers could face discrimination claims over concerns the scheme is not compliant with sharia law and staff are not offered an alternative.
A legal opinion commissioned by the LGPS advisory board found that a discrimination claim in an employment tribunal or a broader human rights-based challenge in the civil courts was possible.
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The nation relies on councils’ ingenuity to deliver in response to repeated crises – but they are unlikely to get significant extra resources, writes the director of LSE London.
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Programmes to tackle obesity will have to close because the government is pulling the plug on a £100m grant for weight management services, despite evidence obesity is still rising.
Hopes have been dashed that the £100m weight management grant, which was shared between the NHS and councils, will continue into the current financial year.
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Only central government can do something to stop profiteering in the children’s social care sector, the new president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services said.
Speaking to LGC following his inaugural speech as president, Steve Crocker, who is also the director of children’s services at Hampshire CC, said neither local nor regional government had "sufficient muscle to deal with” the issue.
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A number of councils in England will be awarded grants to tackle fly-tipping through trial projects, including CCTV to target hotspots, the government has announced.
Fly-tipping is a crime which blights communities, poses a risk to public health and the environment, costing up to £392m a year.
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Thousands of civil service jobs created to tackle the pandemic and Brexit face the axe as the Treasury attempts to rein in soaring Whitehall headcounts.
Plans to slash as many as 40,000 roles will focus on cutting pandemic-related staff in the Department of Health and workers no longer needed after Brexit, The Telegraph can reveal.
The push comes as unions are warned by ministers to expect a new attempt to slash civil service exit payments as they prepare to cut the public payroll.
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Families who offer their second homes to Ukrainian refugees will get a 50 per cent council tax discount worth as much as £1,000 under new laws to be laid before Parliament on Monday.
Councils will also be barred from removing the discounts of lone householders who take in refugees under the legal changes to be unveiled by Lord Harrington, the refugees minister.
The moves are designed to ensure that no household is financially penalised if they take part in the Homes for Ukraine scheme. More than 200,000 individuals or organisations have registered, of which more than 40,000 have applied.
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NHS beds are being blocked by “well” patients with three quarters still on wards despite increasing COVID-19 pressures. Of the 87,775 patients in ward beds as of April 5, around 16 per cent had Covid, the highest proportion since February 17. But separate figures published by NHS England show 71 per cent of patients deemed medically fit to leave remained stuck.
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Homeowners will be unable to object to new solar panels, wind turbines and nuclear reactors under government plans. Its new energy strategy includes a push to build eight new nuclear reactors by 2050, carpet an area larger than Exmoor with solar panels and allow communities to be offered lower energy bills if they permit new onshore wind turbines to go ahead.
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As West Northamptonshire and North Northamptonshire unitary councils register their first full year in existence, James Smith looks at the progress made since the demise of the ill-fated county council.
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Chris Buss says that any review of local government finance must address social care, business rates and council tax, but the danger is that these are just too difficult to resolve.
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The funding committed to social care bodies through Health and Social Care Levy, which went live today, is not enough to meet cost pressures and sector reforms, according to an expert.
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Council leaders have defended senior pay in response to a report that found the number of staff receiving more than £100,000 increased.
Research by the right-wing libertarian think-tank TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) found the number of council staff receiving more than £100,000 increased by 119 to at least 2,921 people during the pandemic.
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The Government is to press ahead with plans to scrap Section 106 agreements in its forthcoming shakeup of planning.
Proposals for a standard Infrastructure Levy to replace the current system will be included in an overhaul of planning, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has confirmed.
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Councils are being urged to apply for funding to clean chewing gum off of pavements and help prevent people from dropping gum in the first place.
Grants of up to £20,000 are being made available to individual councils from the Chewing Gum Task Force Grant Scheme.
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The Government has launched a consultation on replacing an 'outdated' law that criminalises homeless people.
It announced earlier this year it was looking to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824, which makes it an offence to sleep rough or beg in England and Wales.
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Sustainability reporting is, by and large, a new endeavour for most of the public sector. While some jurisdictions have some form of environmental reporting, it's often not integrated with other forms of reporting, such as the annual financial statements or an organisation's annual report.
As a relatively recent addition to public sector reporting, a number of fundamental questions need to be addressed regarding how a reporting entity’s boundary should be defined. Specifically, to what extent will the reporting entity’s upstream and downstream activities be addressed by sustainability reports? This could include the impact of everything from activities in an organisation's supply chain to the funding or services they provide. Should both financial and non-financial impacts of the entity should be included?
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Around 12,000 Afghan refugees are still living in hotels as they wait for permanent housing, more than seven months since their arrival in the UK. The arrangements cost the Home Office £1.2 million a day and are reportedly prolonged by a combination of a lack of affordable housing and delays to paperwork. LGA Chairman Cllr James Jamieson, said: “Families should not be living in hotels. Government need to engage more fully with local authorities and share regular data to enable proper planning of placements, housing, school places and other support across the UK.”
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Money raised from business rates is set to jump to £22.5bn in this financial year - but will still be well short of the amount collected before the Covid pandemic.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities has compiled returns from England's 309 billing authorities, outlining what they expect to get from non-domestic rates in 2022-23.
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Councils have been warned they will have to find more in their budgets to fund the sector’s increasing wage bill.
Most councils have budgeted for an increase of around 2% for future pay awards but many are now planning to revisit this amid significant increases in the rate of inflation.
The sector is particularly under pressure to increase salaries for the lower pay points as the minimum wage increases over the next few years.
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The government outlined the change in a statutory guidance letter sent to finance directors at local authorities this week, extending the flexible capital receipts regime until the end of 2024-25.
Authorities are allowed to use income from property sales to fund the revenue costs of transformation programmes aimed at reducing costs, but will now be unable to use the money to fund redundancy payments.
The guidance said: “Discretionary redundancy payments cannot be qualifying expenditure and must not be capitalised under the direction.
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Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) will receive £375,000 funding from central government this year, as bodies prepare plans to merge with combined authorities.
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Essex County Council is set to invest £1m to help improve its cyber security, after experts warned of heightened risks of Russian interference in public bodies.
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Headteachers’ leaders have criticised Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi for his “continued failure” to respond to them over the “acute” Covid situation in schools as they call for a reintroduction of free lateral flow tests.
Free lateral flow tests for pupils and staff were discontinued on April 1.
In the open letter from the Association of School and College Leaders and the NAHT school leaders’ union, headteachers’ leaders said they are “deeply concerned” about the Government’s “apparent lack of concern and support” for pupils and staff as they faced the next phase of Covid.
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The Child Poverty Action Group’s senior policy and research officer says the chancellor needs to make long term investments in an adequate social security system and decent local crisis support.
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Thirty-one areas of England have won the race for a share of funding that could see cheaper bus fares and more frequent services
The Department for Transport (DfT) today named the 31 counties, city regions and unitary authorities getting money to fund their bus service improvement plans.
Successful SCT areas are:
* Central Bedfordshire: £3.7m
* Cornwall (including Isles of Scilly): £13.3m
* Derbyshire: £47m
* Devon: £14.1m
* East Sussex: £41.4m
* Hertfordshire: £29.7m
* Kent: £35.1m
* Norfolk: £49.6m
* Nottinghamshire: £18.7m
* Oxfordshire: £12.7m
* Somerset: £11.9m
* West Sussex: £17.4m
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The withdrawal of the infection control and testing fund, a financial “lifeline” for care providers during the pandemic, has sparked fears it will lead to a wave of care providers going bust.
The fund, which has provided £1.35bn to adult social care since May 2020 and £288m for testing, will not continue from this month onwards.
One of its aims had been to help providers pay care staff off sick or forced to self-isolate as close to a full wage as possible as workers only become eligible for statutory sick pay after three days.
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A Warwickshire council has been forced to step up security at depots following attempted fuel thefts.
Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council said thieves had attempted to steal fuel at their Gresham Road depot, but had been stopped after security systems prevented the crime.
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People working in adult social care in England are set to benefit from a £500m boost that will go towards improving the recruitment and retention of staff.
The funding will come out of the £36bn that the Health and Social Care Levy, which comes into force tomorrow, is predicted to raise over the next three years.
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Government funding for the New Homes Bonus was £622.3m for 2021-22, according to figures released by local government minister Kemi Badenoch.
Responding to a Parliamentary question from Labour MP Liam Byrne, the minister outlined the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities’ expenditure for the financial year.
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New restrictions have been imposed on the use of capital receipts by local authorities.
An updated direction published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) states that councils will be able to continue use funds from asset sales to cover revenue costs of projects that reduce costs, increase income, or improve efficiency, as has been the case since 2016, until the 2024-25 financial year.
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Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness has spoken out about rural poverty across the North East as she outlines how plans to tackle it will help reduce crime.
Highlighting the impact of austerity on rural communities, the Commissioner’s ‘Fighting Poverty, Fighting Crime’ Plan is the first Police and Crime Plan of its kind to focus on poverty.
The plan focuses on reducing crime through boosting jobs and youth opportunities for the region as a crucial way of supporting operational policing.
The new approach covers the whole force area – all of which is impacted by poverty, including the rural communities – from Gateshead in the south to Wooler in the north.
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Vulnerable families across the UK are set to receive around £1bn of support to help them access advice and services, the Government has announced.
Seventy-five local authorities have been announced as eligible for a share of £302m to create new Family Hubs. These hubs give parents advice on how to take care of their child and make sure they are safe and healthy.
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Local authority leaders have welcomed the Government’s announcement of a multi-million-pound funding package to tackle serious violence and homicide.
Around £64m of the funding will go to the existing 18 Violence Reduction Units (VRU), which bring together local partners in policing, education, health, and local government to identify and help those who might become involved in crime.
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The government has promised to not preside over the "death" of local economic partnerships (Leps) as it set out its long-awaited vision for their future as council devolution gathers pace.
Just over a year after it was announced, the government has set out the conclusions of its Lep review in a 13-page letter to Lep chairs and combined authority mayors.
[ more...]
The Resolution Foundation's chief economist and deputy chief executive writes that the extra support announced in the spring statement is not enough for local authorities to protect their worst-off residents.
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Thirty-one areas in England including Liverpool, Norfolk and Cornwall have been picked to receive government funding to boost bus services.
However, other places such as Blackpool and Slough will miss out on the £1.08bn pot of money allocated by government.
The transport department said it gave money to areas which had the "ambition to repeat the success achieved in London - which drove up bus usage".
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Headteachers’ leaders have criticised Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi for his “continued failure” to respond to them over the “acute” Covid situation in schools as they call for a reintroduction of free lateral flow tests.
Free lateral flow tests for pupils and staff were discontinued on April 1.
In the open letter from the Association of School and College Leaders and the NAHT school leaders’ union, headteachers’ leaders said they are “deeply concerned” about the Government’s “apparent lack of concern and support” for pupils and staff as they faced the next phase of Covid.
[ more...]
Councils are facing growing challenges as the cost-of-living crisis impacts around the country. The highest rates of inflation for at least three decades are causing a sharp rise in the cost of the raw materials, labour and services they have to buy to provide public services. The LGA has estimated that even before taking account of inflation, councils will have a £1 billion funding gap in the next few years as they face growing pressures from an ageing population and an economy still dealing with COVID-19.
[ more...]
Research by the Campaign for Better Transport has found that 27 per cent of bus services in England have disappeared in the last decade, with the pandemic accelerating the decline.
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The government’s promise to build 300,000 homes per year could be placed in jeopardy by new regulations put in place by Natural England.
A report by The Times said that as many as 100,000 homes have been delayed due to new ‘nutrient neutrality’ regulations.
Advice previously issued by Natural England has stated local planning authorities in areas affected by nutrient pollution may only approve projects if they are certain they will not increase the levels of nutrients in the development’s catchment area.
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The Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, has said councils should work with newly arrived Ukrainian families to make sure children can attend school as soon as possible. This includes going above published admission numbers or exceeding infant class sizes where appropriate. The LGA said councils had “concerns” about “what happens if children arrive in an area and schools are already at capacity, or schools are unwilling to take children”. It said there were potential issues with academy schools, which councils cannot direct to take pupils. The LGA’s lines were also reported by the Evening Standard.
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The first UK government-funded scheme pairing sponsors with Ukrainian arrivals has been launched. The charity Reset Communities and Refugees has launched a service to link sponsors with new arrivals, provide training and help with safeguarding.
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Cumberland Council could face a difficult start when it launches next April - thanks to a host of "significant" financial issues being tackled by one of its three successor authorities.
Copeland BC, which will merge with Allerdale BC and Carlisle City Council to form Cumberland Council on April 1 2023, is in a "financially challenging position", according to a Grant Thornton audit report, seen by LGC.
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Experts fear the fight against Covid will be hampered after the government axed outbreak funding to councils, while it emerged that future variants would be managed nationally, not locally.
Local authorities are letting go public health staff taken on during the pandemic, after yesterday's announcement that there would be no more Covid outbreak management funding (Comf) - even though cases and hospitalisations continue to rise.
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Councils will have to pick up the bill for accommodating homeless Ukrainian refugees from their own budgets, a minister has said.
Latest figures from the Local Government Association found 144 Ukrainian refugees have presented to councils in England as homeless so far.
Shadow communities spokesperson Baroness Hayman pressed refugees minister Lord Harrington on what was being done for those who ‘urgently need housing’.
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