17th December 2020
Solace warns local recovery efforts constrained by ‘too little funding, too late’
Responding to the publication of the provisional local government finance settlement Martin
Reeves, Solace spokesperson for Local Government Finance, said: “Once again, the Government
has failed to listen to its own advice from the 2018 Hudson Review and left it to the last possible
minute to let councils know exactly how much money they can expect to receive next year.
“This unnecessary delay, combined with insufficient funding to meet the extraordinary pressures
the pandemic has placed on council budgets, let alone a decade of underfunding, means local
authorities are having to present yet more unpalatable and counterproductive proposals to their
communities in order to balance the books.
“Councils have been at the heart of the pandemic response and they will be at the centre of the
recovery too. That’s why it was all the more disappointing that the Government decided against
providing the sector with a multi-year funding settlement, as it has done for the NHS.
“Local government stands ready to revive our local economies, but our efforts will always be
constrained for as long as councils are provided with too little funding, too late.”