Agenda item

Nicola Morton, Head of Local Government Finance, introduced the report which provided an update on the LGA’s work on local government finance policy matters including the Autumn Budget submission and further business rates retention.

In particular, Members noted that the Autumn Budget submission had been agreed by Lead Members of the Resources Board, and a link to the submission would be circulated to Members later in the day. The submission highlighted in particular the projected £7.1bn funding gap by 2019/20, and that further business rates retention may be an opportunity to address that. 50% business rates retention would ensure that no authority lost out in the Fair Funding Review.

It was highlighted that following the discussion on adult social care at the previous meeting of the Board in June 2017, the LGA had written to the national political parties and invited to host a round table to discuss the issue. The Liberal Democrats and crossbench peers had accepted, and officers were waiting for a response from the Labour Party. The Government had declined, but did talk about further collaboration. In addition to this, the LGA Chairman and the Chairman of the Community Wellbeing Board were meeting the Secretary of State for Health the following week.

In the discussion which followed the following points were raised by Members:

·         Concern was raised that legislation on home to school transport had not changed in 7 years, and current legislation was at odds with the Government’s ambitions on post-16 education.

·         Members agreed that social care was an urgent national issue which required a more equitable method of funding, and supported the idea of a round table to consider potential solutions.

·         Regarding housing finance, Members highlighted that councils were under pressure of dealing with safety measures following the Grenfell Tower fire, and also needed to build more homes. They should be given flexibilities to build more through devolution of funding, localisation of planning fees, and removing the cap on Housing Revenue Account funding.

Decision

The Resources Board noted the report.