On behalf of its membership, the cross-party LGA regularly submits to Government
consultations, briefs parliamentarians and responds to a wide range of parliamentary inquiries. Our recent
responses to government consultations and parliamentary briefings can be found here.
This briefing provides a summary of new key announcements in the Chancellor’s 2025 Spring Statement, delivered on Wednesday 26 March, relevant to local government.
There is a clear and widely accepted need to simplify local authority financial reporting. The complexity of local authority accounts has contributed significantly to the current crisis in local audit
It is widely recognised that local audit is in crisis, and this is acknowledged in the consultation and the strategy. The LGA has been pressing for a long time for a timetable to be set by which timely audits will be restored. There is an urgent need to restore confidence in the local audit arrangements, restore timely audits permanently, and improve financial reporting. Taxpayers and residents should demand and be entitled to full confidence in local authority accounts. But it is also clear that the causes of the crisis are complex – there is no easy explanation nor an easy solution.
The Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill amends the non-domestic rating system in England to enable the introduction of new multipliers (i.e. tax rates). The Bill introduces powers to create new lower multipliers for qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure properties and higher multipliers for the high value properties. The Bill also removes the eligibility of private schools that are charities for charitable business rates relief.
The Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill amends the non-domestic rating system in England to enable the introduction of new multipliers (i.e. tax rates).