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Martin Reeves, Solace spokesperson for Local Government Finance, said: “While the additional funding for councils for next year is welcome this falls far short of what is needed given the extraordinary pressures the pandemic and a decade of underfunding have placed on council budgets.

“Local authorities, along with our health partners, have been at the very heart of the pandemic response. So it is extremely disappointing that the Government has chosen not to provide councils with the financial certainty they need beyond next year, especially given the multi-year funding deals for other parts of the public sector.

“We have the spending envelope for 2021-22 – now we need the detail, and fast. Ongoing financial uncertainty risks cuts to vital services and prevents councils from being able to invest in prevention and so improve peoples’ life chances, address inequalities, and reduce demand on other parts of the public sector.

“We have long warned that without the right financial support local government will be unable to play its full part in helping the nation to ‘build back better’ in recovering from Covid. As an example, the infrastructure spending commitments in today’s statement are good news but without certainty over the funding for staff to deliver those infrastructure projects the Government’s ambitions for growth will be undermined.

“This Spending Review is, sadly, yet another missed opportunity that will come at a cost to our people and our places.”