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.
The Local Government Association (LGA) welcomes the opportunity to submit a representation ahead of the Government’s March 2021 Budget. The LGA works to support, promote and improve local government. We will continue to contribute to Government’s national priorities and ambitions and support councils through challenging times by making the case for greater devolution, helping councils tackle their challenges and assisting them to deliver better value for money services that provide sustained outcomes for residents and communities. This submission has been approved by the LGA’s Chairman and leaders of all LGA political groups.
We support the Non-Domestic Rating (Public Lavatories) Bill which seeks to provide 100 per cent business rates relief for standalone public lavatories in England and Wales. This includes publicly and privately owned, free to use and charging for entry lavatories.
This briefing covers the provisional local government finance settlement for 2021/22. We expect the final 2021/22 settlement to be laid before the House of Commons for its approval in late January or early February 2021.
Taking into account the grant support received so far, and assuming that the income guarantee scheme parameters will compensate councils for around £1 billion of lost non-tax income, the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimate there is still an unfunded overall pressure of £1.1 billion in 2020/21 that councils will be forced to absorb unless further funding is announced.
Local government needs a system that raises sufficient resources for local priorities in a way that is fair for residents and gives local politicians all the tools they need to be the leaders of their communities. For councils, it is also important that the tax system, including business rates, provides as much certainty as possible.
The LGA has significant concerns with the Local Authorities (Borrowing and Investment) Bill which seeks to restrict the acquisition of land and property by councils outside their own boundaries. The Bill also seeks to limit local authorities’ investment in “commercial risk-taking enterprises” and limit council borrowing for non-core activities.
We welcome closer working between the VOA and local authorities. This must be accompanied by measures to significantly reduce the backlog of appeals. The VOA and councils must receive additional funding to implement these changes.
On the high streets, footfall is down over 43 per cent compared to the same period last year. Before the pandemic, footfall had dropped over 10 per cent in the last 7 years. Internet sales had risen 21 per cent of all retail sales from 7 per cent a decade earlier and during the pandemic had jumped to nearly 33 per cent of all retail sales.