County Councils Network

Our new analysis reveals that councils face a funding black hole of £54bn over the next five years. To protect local services, our submission to the 2024 Budget calls for stability, investment and reform. Download our new analysis with Pixel Financial Resilience and read our submission: https://lnkd.in/eidAc_hX

🗣️ “Councils will still need to take difficult decisions over services to balance their budgets.” Whilst yesterday’s #Budget24 had important and welcome announcements, the money for local government will not eradicate the funding shortfall councils have. Tim Oliver OBE responds in The Independent below ⬇️ ➡️ Read our full on-the-day response: https://lnkd.in/eNxKMZpM

The Autumn #Budget24 contained several announcements that will have a positive impact on local areas. However, the funding announced does not eradicate councils' funding gaps and the National Living Wage will be a significant extra cost. Therefore, difficult decisions will still be required. Read our full response:

“We feel for residents… because of the position we’re in, we’re asking them to pay more for less.” Ahead of tomorrow’s Budget, Sky News speaks to Peter Oakford about the issues he is facing as he begins planning Kent County Council’s budget for next year. If nothing changes tomorrow, our research shows that councils face a funding black hole of £54bn over the next five years, with many providing ‘little more’ than statutory care services by the end of the decade: https://lnkd.in/eidAc_hX

🚌 The government has announced it is extending the bus fare price cap - but will increase it. Whilst we are disappointed that the cap will be increased and has not been made permanent, it will make a difference for many rural residents. Our transport spokesperson Peter Thornton responds to today's announcement ⬇️

We are delighted that the Local Government Association 2025 Conference will be heading to Liverpool in July next year.   We're excited to announce that our Summer Reception will be held at the iconic Liverpool Museum on Tuesday 1st July.   If you are interested in supporting this event, our events officer Hannah Chard would love to hear from you!

🗣️ “Councils in county areas are facing huge pressures in delivering SEND services… costs are estimated to rise to almost £4bn a year with virtually no extra government funding.” 📺 Watch coverage of our SEND research as ITV News interview Richard Clewer ⬇️ We’re for calling for reform: https://lnkd.in/eiEXRhB7

🗣️ “With councils continuing to accrue spiralling deficits and SEND demand reaching record levels each year, reform is urgent." 🗞️ Coverage in The Telegraph today as we respond to the UK National Audit Office's key findings in its new report on the SEND system:

Today's UK National Audit Office report on SEND services is clear: the system is broken and in need of urgent reform. Read our response to the report, which backs many of the recommendations for reform put forward in our research with the Local Government Association in the summer: https://lnkd.in/e8rtSEJ3

Households dumped 5.6 million tonnes of packaging last year, including 70,000 tonnes mistakenly into food waste, new research shows. CCN, the Local Government Association and the District Councils' Network are calling for new reforms to reduce packaging and make it easier to recycle: