PRESS RELEASE : Government confirms £60 billion for local authorities to deliver vital services [February 2023]

The press release issued by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on 6 February 2023.

The local government finance settlement has confirmed £60 billion for councils to deliver local services.

• Levelling Up Secretary confirms increased funding package for councils to deliver local services and support vulnerable households with council tax bills
• An extra £5.1 billion available on last year’s settlement, including access to £2 billion new social care grant
• Government funding gives certainty to local government and stands behind councils in challenging times

Councils in England will benefit from almost £60 billion to deliver vital frontline services as the Government confirms an average funding increase of 9.4% for town halls over the next financial year.

After close engagement with councils, the settlement includes £2 billion in additional grant funding for adult and children’s social care for 2023/24 and a one-off Funding Guarantee that ensures every local authority in England will see at least a 3% increase in core spending power before any local decisions around council tax are taken.

Following consultation, the Government has expanded the total funding allocations to include a further £19 million for all services and £10 million extra for the Rural Services Delivery Grant. This additional funding will help councils deliver core services and address the unique challenges faced by rural communities.

The Government proposed the funding package in December and consulted with councils on all elements of the settlement. Now, the Government is confirming its intention that councils across England will benefit from an additional £5.1 billion – an increase of 9.4% on last year – as it continues to stand behind councils and public services in the face of financial pressures.

The final settlement for local government ensures the most relatively deprived areas of England receive 17% more funding per household than the least deprived.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said:

“Every day councils across the country deliver for their communities and play a crucial role in driving forward levelling up.

“This funding package represents an increase of over 9% for councils on last year, ensuring a fair deal for local government that reflects the vital work councils do to provide key services on which we all rely.”

Alongside the provisional settlement, the Government announced a £100 million of additional funding for local authorities to support the most vulnerable households in England – delivering on the manifesto commitment to protect local taxpayers from excessive increases. This funding supports the government’s council tax referendum package, which strikes a fair balance to ensure taxpayers are not over-burdened at a time of significant pressure on the public finances.

This announcement follows a major £2.1 billion investment for councils across the UK through the Levelling Up Fund, which will deliver transformational projects to help spread opportunity to historically overlooked areas.

The provisional settlement consultation was open for 4 weeks and closed on 16 January 2023.