Agenda item

Nicola Morton, Head of Local Government Finance, introduced the item, which included the following updates:

-       Information on the recent Autumn Budget;

-       Updates relating to the HRA borrowing cap, the Spending Review, the Fair Funding Review, and the Business Rates consultation documents (both expected to be published in December);

-       Nicola stated that the LGA-commissioned business rates retention model had been published and shared with councils; and

-       Nicola also fed back to members the LGA’s response to its adult social care Green Paper.

The Chair thanked Nicola for the update and welcomed members to comment:

-       Members highlighted the pressure on councils in relation to the high spending on children’s services, including Special Education Needs (SEN).  Sarah Pickup, Deputy Chief Executive, stated the LGA is actively lobbying around the £500 million gap on spending on SEN and children with disabilities.

-       Members discussed housing finance and the HRA cap, and requested that the LGA keep pushing for 100 per cent of right-to-buy receipts to be retained by councils.  Members agreed that this makes a huge difference to the ability of local government to finance replacement  homes.

-       Members discussed how councils are faced with costs arising from the Universal Credit (UC) reform and the impact on funding.  Members questioned if government had taken this into account in its Fair Funding Review.

-       Members discussed how transition could work in the Fair Funding Review.  Sarah Pickup stated that there has been less detail on how transition will be taken forward, and said that one crucial decision will be how fast or slow this will be implemented.  Sarah confirmed that we will publish an LGA-commissioned transition model which will explore how different scenarios could affect councils.

Action

-       Members noted the update.