England\u2019s councils will\u00a0have\u00a0almost \u00a378 billion\u00a0made available\u00a0for\u00a0essential\u00a0services\u00a0next year\u00a0with\u00a0more\u00a0money\u00a0going to places with the greatest need under a\u00a0radical overhaul of\u00a0how local government is funded.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The funding injection is aimed at restoring pride and opportunity in left behind places, to get back what has been lost. Councils will have more resources available to bring back libraries, youth services, clean streets, and community hubs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0money\u00a0is part of the first multi-year funding\u00a0Settlement in over a decade, giving councils three years of\u00a0financial\u00a0certainty so they can\u00a0plan ahead\u00a0rather than firefight year to year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In total,\u00a0by the end of this multi-year Settlement,\u00a0councils will see an\u00a0increase of\u00a0over 23\u00a0per cent\u00a0in their core spending power\u00a0compared to 2024-25\u00a0to pay for services including\u00a0bin collections,\u00a0housing,\u00a0and\u00a0children\u2019s services.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
And in a turning point for the way local government is funded, the outdated system that saw some councils build\u00a0up\u00a0savings\u00a0while others faced financial collapse has been replaced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, places are now being funded using an evidence-based system that\u00a0properly recognises local circumstances and the true costs of\u00a0providing\u00a0services in deprived communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0most deprived\u00a010\u00a0per cent of councils will see a\u00a024\u00a0per cent\u00a0per head\u00a0boost to the\u00a0funding available to them as a result.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All councils will be protected financially during this change, with\u00a0the change to new\u00a0funding\u00a0amounts being\u00a0phased in gradually to keep services running smoothly for residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Secretary of State Steve Reed said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is a chance to turn the page on a decade of cuts, and for local leaders to invest in getting back what has been lost \u2013 to bring back libraries, youth services, clean streets, and community hubs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Today we\u2019re making sure every community has the funding they need to succeed.<\/p>\n
Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness, Alison McGovern said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Deprivation doesn\u2019t happen by accident \u2013 it\u2019s the result of years of broken systems and wrong priorities. This settlement tackles that head-on by directing funding where\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0needed most.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
By fixing the link between funding and deprivation,\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0giving local areas the tools to create opportunities, support families, and rebuild the services that hold communities together. This is how we deliver a fairer Britain where everyone has the chance to succeed.<\/p>\n
The \u00a3600 million Recovery Grant introduced last year will continue throughout the three-year settlement, targeted at areas hit hardest by years of underfunding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A new Recovery Grant Guarantee will\u00a0also\u00a0protect\u00a0upper tier\u00a0councils receiving this money, giving them above-inflation increases while they adapt to the fairer funding system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Council tax\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The government will continue supporting councils as they move to the new, fairer funding system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All councils must still manage their budgets responsibly, and council tax rises will be capped at 3 per cent per year with an extra 2 per cent allowed for adult social care.\u00a0It will be entirely up to local leaders to raise that council tax.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In exceptional cases, councils can apply to raise taxes above this limit \u2013 but only if their residents\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0already pay more than average.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Six councils with historically\u00a0very\u00a0low\u00a0bills will be given flexibility\u00a0for\u00a02\u00a0years\u00a0with local leaders given the choice to use the flexibility: Wandsworth, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, City of London, Kensington and Chelsea, and Windsor and Maidenhead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Around 500,000 households in these areas\u00a0already have\u00a0very low\u00a0bills, with\u00a0Band D households\u00a0paying\u00a0between \u00a3450 and \u00a31,280 less in council tax than the average English household.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This temporary\u00a0measure\u00a0gives them the option of bringing their bills more in line with the rest of the country – making the system fairer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Social care\u00a0<\/p>\n
The government is building a National Care\u00a0Service\u00a0so people get better quality care, more choice and control over their support.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
And ministers have confirmed\u00a0around \u00a34.6 billion\u00a0extra\u00a0is\u00a0made\u00a0available for\u00a0adult social care\u00a0by 2028-29\u00a0to\u00a0help make this happen\u00a0– including\u00a0\u00a3500 million to improve\u00a0care workers\u2019\u00a0pay.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The government\u00a0is\u00a0also\u00a0rolling out\u00a0the biggest transformation of children\u2019s social care in a generation \u2013 backed by a historic \u00a32.4 billion investment over the multi-year Settlement.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Settlement also includes other major changes to make the system work better for councils and residents, including:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fairer housing incentives: letting councils keep all\u00a0additional\u00a0council tax from new homes to encourage local growth and home ownership.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Simplifying the system:\u00a0cutting red tape by\u00a0streamlining\u00a036\u00a0funding streams\u00a0worth more than \u00a356 billion\u00a0over three years\u00a0and freeing up councils to focus on residents\u2019 priorities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England\u2019s councils will\u00a0have\u00a0almost \u00a378 billion\u00a0made available\u00a0for\u00a0essential\u00a0services\u00a0next year\u00a0with\u00a0more\u00a0money\u00a0going to places with the greatest need under a\u00a0radical overhaul of\u00a0how local…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-321400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}