Today the LUHC Committee published a report on the findings of its inquiry into financial distress in local authorities.
In response, Cllr Claire Holland, Deputy Chair of London Councils, said:
“The LUHC Committee’s report provides a thorough assessment of why local authorities are facing financial distress, and what must be done to prevent more councils falling over and protect vital local services.
“London boroughs have had to deal with over a decade of funding cuts, rising need and complexity of need of residents and new duties and expectations from central government. Yet despite the latest funding settlement, and some additional funding announced last week, we still collectively face a £400 million funding gap in 2024/25. This is roughly what boroughs spend on homelessness in a single year.
"The government must take the committee’s recommendations seriously. Now is the time to urgently work with councils to reform local government funding to ensure it is sufficient to meet the growing scale of demand, is more fairly distributed, more certain and less centrally controlled."