A year in the LGA 2023/24

Directors

The members of the LGA Board for the year were:

Labour 

• Shaun Davies [Chair]
• Nesil Caliskan [Vice-chair] Appointed 4 July 2023
• Michael Payne [Deputy-chair]
• Georgia Gould [Deputy-chair]
• Beverley Craig [Deputy-chair] Appointed 4 July 2023
• Tudor Evans OBE [Deputy-chair] Resigned 4 July 2023
• Anntoinette Bramble [Deputy-chair] Resigned 4 July 2023

Conservative 

• Kevin Bentley [Senior Vice-chair] Appointed 4 July 2023
• Izzi Seccombe OBE [Vice-chair]
• Morris Bright MBE [Deputy-chairman] Appointed 4 July 2023
• Abi Brown OBE [Deputy-chairman] Appointed 4 July 2023
• David Fothergill [Deputy-chairman] Appointed 4 July 2023
• James Jamieson OBE [Chairman] Resigned 4 July 2023
• John Fuller OBE [Deputy-chairman] Resigned 4 July 2023
• Robert Alden [Deputy-chairman] Resigned 4 July 2023
• Baroness Teresa O’Neill OBE [Deputy-chairman] Resigned 4 July 2023

Liberal Democrat 

• Joseph Harris [Vice-chair] Bridget Smith [Deputy Chair]

Independent 

• Marianne Overton MBE [Vice-chair]
• Caroline Jackson [Deputy-chair] Appointed 4 July 2023
• Hannah Dalton [Deputy-chair] Resigned 4 July 2023

Company secretary

Claire Holloway

Registered office 

18 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HZ

Bankers

Barclays, UK Banking 1 Churchill Place London, E14 5HP

Independent auditor

 PKF Littlejohn LLP

15 Westferry Circus Canary Wharf London, E14 4HD

Company number

11177145

The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national voice of local government. On the side of councils, we promote their good work, support them to continuously improve and help them make a difference to their residents, their communities and the planet. We are a politically led, cross-party organisation, funded by subscriptions of our member councils (16 per cent); core improvement grant from the UK Government (28 per cent); other grants and income from contracts and services (35 per cent) and income from commercial ventures, rental and property and joint ventures.

We aim to influence and set the political agenda on issues that matter to councils, enabling them to deliver local solutions to national problems. We continue to support councils through increasingly challenging times, focusing our efforts to enable us to have the most impact for our members.

We play a leading role in improvement and innovation so that councils can continue to make a difference in their local areas and to the lives of their residents every day.

As the national membership body for councils, we provide the bridge between central and local government. We work with councils in every part of England and Wales - county and district councils, metropolitan and unitary councils, London boroughs and Welsh unitary councils. Through our associate scheme we also provide services to other organisations including fire and rescue and national park authorities, police and crime commissioners and town and parish councils. In 2023/24 we had 315 English member councils along with the 22 Welsh authorities, in corporate membership through the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA).

Working with and on behalf of our membership we continue to: 

• influence critical parliamentary legislative, financial and policy decisions and shape the policies that underpin councils’ service delivery
• press for more powers to be devolved from Whitehall to local government
• shape emerging government thinking, ensuring councils’ views are represented
• work with public, private, community and voluntary organisations to secure their continued support for local priorities
• campaign on behalf of our membership, promote local government and defend its reputation through the local, regional and national media
• ensure the voice of local government is heard in Parliament
• support councils to share best practice, drive innovation and improvement and to continue to deliver essential services
• negotiate, in our role as a national employer, fair pay and pensions and provide support and advice on workforce issues
• coordinate collective legal action on behalf of member councils
• deliver broader services to local government and beyond via our wholly owned companies and our joint ventures such as Local Partnerships, Geoplace and Public Sector Audit Appointments.

The LGA Board closely monitors the LGA Group’s financial performance against the agreed budget. The LGA’s leadership continues to oversee our medium-term financial strategy of both the LGA and its associated organisations. Our commercial strategy to diversify the LGA’s sources of income is ongoing.

Review of the year

Over the past 12 months local government has yet again clearly demonstrated its clarity of purpose and full determination to lead and serve local residents. The LGA has continued to work hard to remain the strong national voice of councils and to promote, support and improve local government as councils faced yet another challenging year.

We have continued to demonstrate the merits of local leadership with government departments as councils and their officer teams steered their local communities through some tough financial decisions, the continued cost of living challenge, and their unwavering commitment to protecting our most vulnerable in society. We have gone to great lengths to showcase just how vital councils are in helping achieve the Government’s aspirations and to demonstrate why the sector must be seen as an equal partner and a priority for further investment and support.

We have focused on long-term and sustainable funding using member surveys and case studies to highlight the unprecedented costs and demand pressures and the difficult choices being made by councils from the Autumn Statement 2023 right through to the Spring Budget 2024. And ahead of the Local Government Finance Settlement, our sustained campaigning ensured government heard our calls and resulted in an additional £600 million for councils in the upcoming financial year. We have fully utilised our legal, analytical and lobbying skills to represent local government in England and Wales in the UK Covid-19 inquiry and have concentrated on the priorities outlined by our member councils by campaigning for better outcomes in adult social care; children’s services; asylum and refugee resettlement; housing and planning and the climate emergency.

Overall, in the past year the LGA was featured 16,810 times in national, trade, regional, broadcast and online media, including 2,621 LGA mentions in national newspapers, broadcast and online articles – that’s an average of 50 times a week or 7 times every day. As well as a number of front-page stores in national newspapers, our lead political spokespeople were regularly interviewed on national broadcast media throughout the year. On our social media channels, we have reached over 3.1 million users.

We have continued to deliver a full programme of parliamentary engagement, briefing for debates, influencing legislation and shaping parliamentary committee reports.

To help deliver this, we produced 328 parliamentary briefings. As part of our engagement with select committees and all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs), we provided evidence to inquiries 30 times, and witnesses appeared on behalf of the LGA at select committees 23 times. In the last financial year, the LGA has been quoted 626 times in the chamber of the Commons and the Lords.

18,541 delegates have attended an in-person, LGA hybrid or virtual event from our wide-ranging programme – and in July 2023, 1,640 delegates joined us in Bournemouth for our Annual Conference.

Our comprehensive sector support offer, which is partially funded by Government has provided councils with assistance across governance, leadership, finance, workforce and transformation, as well as One Public Estate, care and health and children’s service support offers, along with our workforce programme.

Our dedicated regional support programme has once again helped councils to enhance their performance and drive further improvements through access to peer challenges (including corporate peer challenges) and our wide-ranging bespoke support, provided by our expert peers and regional teams.

Our award-winning platform, LG Inform, was viewed 581,644 times and offers current performance data relating to councils, local areas and live issues.

In 2023/24 the Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government (IDeA) provided councils with support to improve delivery of vital public services. We have delivered 113 Corporate Peer Challenges and Progress Reviews.

1,130 councillors have received training and development opportunities organised via our Leadership team and our National Graduate

Development Programme, which develops leaders in local government for the future, received 4,700 applications.

Our Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Hub remains a valuable resource for members and includes cost-of-living updates, community engagement resources and equalities case studies.

At a glance: A year in the LGA

Over the last 12 months, we continued to campaign on behalf of our membership, taking every opportunity to secure the funding and powers that councils need to best serve their local communities and improve residents’ lives.

Through our work with our members, government ministers and departments, our parliamentary Vice-Presidents and other partners we secured a number of benefits for councils over the past year. Highlights include:

April 2023

Right to Buy - Following a long and sustained campaign over many years by the LGA, the Government finally announced that councils would be able to retain 100 per cent of their Right to Buy receipts.

May 2023

Skills and Employment – Our campaigning efforts resulted in the Department for Education launching a £165 million fund for local communities to improve local skills in order to help more people into employment.

June 2023

Leisure Services - Following extensive LGA lobbying, the Government launched the £60 million Swimming Pool Support Fund to help public pools with increased cost pressures and investment.

July 2023

LGA Annual Conference - We welcomed more than 2,600 people (including delegates, speakers and exhibitors) to the 2023 LGA Annual Conference in Bournemouth, where our new Chair, Cllr Shaun Davies, set out his ambition to develop a Local Government White Paper.

UK Covid-19 Inquiry – Our former Chief Executive, Mark Lloyd, gave evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on behalf of local government in England.

August 2023

Council Maintained Schools – Our latest published research continued to show that schools within their council continued to outshine academies, providing further evidence for why councils should be given powers to open new maintained schools.

September 2023

Plan for Towns – Following our lobbying, the Government unveiled a £1.1 billion Long-term Plan for Towns which saw the allocation of funding being given based on need, with the call for competitive bidding being dropped. This allowed 55 towns to invest in local priorities. RAAC – Following a government announcement of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete being found in a school roof that had collapsed we wrote to government and launched a sustained national and local media campaign to persuade the Government to work with councils as equal partners in ensuring all schools were checked at pace, suitable alternative accommodation was secured, and urgent remediation works are now either planned or already in place.

October 2023

Care Leavers - Through our Step Ahead campaign during National Care Leavers’ Week, we highlighted support for those leaving care, and refreshed the support we provide to councils.

Party Conferences - We concluded our party conference season by holding LGA events at the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green conferences.

November 2023

Autumn Statement 2023 – Parliamentarians and national media and broadcast outlets were significantly briefed ahead of the Autumn Statement to highlight the severe financial pressures facing councils. Local Housing Allowance - Following our longstanding lobbying, the Government confirmed the restoration of the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of market rents. December 2023

Standards in public life - Following November’s King’s Speech, we set out a roadmap for influencing legislation and highlighted our Debate Not Hate campaign during a House of Lords debate on democracy and standards in public life.

Local Government Finance - We achieved widespread media coverage with another of our finance survey results, which revealed that almost one in five council leaders and chief executives in England thought it is very or fairly likely that their chief finance officer will need to issue a Section 114 in 2024.

Home for Ukraine - By the end of the year, we had secured more than £2 billion for the Homes for Ukraine Scheme and associated refugee-related projects.

January 2024

Local Government Finance – Our sustained evidence and arguments along with other local government bodies resulted in the announcement of a new £600m funding package for the sector in 2024/25 – including £500 million to bolster social care budgets.

Single Use Vapes - Our sector’s longstanding calls for the Government to take decisive action to ban single-use vapes was acted upon by government and a ban is now expected in the near future.

February 2024

Local Government Finance Survey – Our analysis highlighting that two thirds of councils are now warning their communities will see cutbacks to local neighbourhood services this year was widely picked up by the media and continues to be used in making the case for more funding for local government in all of our lobbying and campaigning efforts. Extended Producer Responsibility - All political parties were lobbied to introduce the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme in their manifestos ahead of a General Election, shifting the costs of dealing with waste from council taxpayers on to producers.

Right to Buy – We lobbied government for reform of the scheme to prevent the current net loss of much-needed social housing stock being experienced by local authorities under the current system.

March 2024

Household Support Fund - On the eve of the Spring Budget, more than 170 council leaders joined forces with us to call on the Chancellor to extend the Household Support Fund to help protect vulnerable households across the country before it expired at the end of March. Budget 2024 – The LGA was one of the first organisations to comment on the contents of the Red Box – welcoming the six-month extension of the Household Support Fund and receiving widespread national media coverage.

Corporate Peer Challenge – Our new strengthened Corporate Peer Challenge offer was launched to all councils highlighting this highly-valued improvement and assurance tool process ensuring it is even more robust and consistent with an even greater focus on finance, data and evidence, delivering a strong assessment of council performance and productivity.

This year the LGA has continued to deliver for local government, and I know we will continue to provide excellent and much valued support to our member councils in the coming year.

Joanna Killian 
Chief Executive

The Directors present their strategic report on the Group for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Principal activities

The Local Government Association (LGA) was incorporated on 30 January 2018. On 1 April 2019 the LGA took on the business, assets and liabilities of the unincorporated Local Government Association, which had been set up on 1 April 1997 following the merger of the three previous local authority associations covering England and Wales (the Association of County Councils, the Association of District Councils and the Association of Metropolitan Authorities), to provide a single national voice for local government.

The shared objective of the LGA and its subsidiaries is to make an outstanding contribution to the success of local government working with and on behalf of the LGA’s member authorities to support, promote and improve local government.

Departure from United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (UKGAAP)

In line with prior years, the financial statements do not include a detailed note on the Association’s defined benefit pension scheme, instead just showing the combined Group view.

The LGA Board believe that this exception results in the financial statements still showing a true and fair view.

Report of the business

In October 2022, the LGA Board approved a three-year business plan for 2022-25. The plan sets the direction for the LGA as a whole and includes our policy and campaigning priorities for the period. The LGA Plan clearly sets out our vision to be the Voice of Local Government and our purpose to Promote, Improve and Support local government.

Following the new Board of Directors being elected in 2023, the plan was reviewed and updated to ensure that it reflects the LGA’s current priorities. The Board continues to support the themes and commitments set out in the three-year plan but has also highlighted four areas for particular focus over the coming year. These are:

• A White paper for local government – our manifesto for the next Government
• Supporting care leavers – our commitment to those leaving care and with care experience
• Driving improvement and assurance – our improved sector-led improvement framework supporting councils to be the best.
• One LGA, One voice – our organisational change programme, equipping us to be the best membership organisation we can be. Through the work of our Boards and Task and Finish Groups, made up of members from councils across England and Wales, the LGA has continued to make progress on delivering its priorities.

Despite ongoing pressure on our core funding, we have delivered a satisfactory financial outcome in 2023/24. From 1 April 2016, IDeA become the recipient of Direct Government Funding from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to pay for improvement services to councils, replacing Revenue Support Grant (“RSG top slice”). Our income from DLUHC Funding remained steady in the year, but with revised priorities and reflecting the change to remote working practices, and while other grants and service contracts were secured, overall income increased by a total of 3 per cent in 2023/24 compared with the previous year. We continued to keep costs down and invested in reducing costs of back office services, at the same time as continuing to deliver on our key priorities and deliver direct support to councils.

As agreed by the LGA Board, the 2023/24 consolidated operating surplus (excluding pension scheme and investment property revaluation adjustments) has replenished the risk and contingency reserve in our statement of financial position. This was created to support opportunities to invest to save costs or generate additional commercial income, and also to cover the potential risks to the three-year plan included in the LGA’s Financial Strategy.

The LGA Board has overseen the LGA’s approach to Treasury Management and concluded that the LGA should continue to be cautious in its investment strategy. Substantial use has been made of the Public Sector Deposit Fund, a qualifying money market fund operated by CCLA Investment Management Ltd. No losses arose on treasury activities. To recognise the ongoing difficult financial environment across local government, the LGA Board agreed to freeze LGA annual membership subscriptions for 2024/25 at their 2023/24 levels.

Future developments

In common with other parts of the public sector, we are taking steps to ensure we develop new sources of income as well as continuing to reduce our costs. Our future success relies on delivering ever greater value to member councils at a time when councils will face cost of living pressures, increasing service demands and uncertain future funding levels.

During 2024/25 the LGA will continue to develop and manage its property assets to maximise their capital values and offset the future liabilities arising from our pension funds and to reduce costs and deliver additional commercial income to maximise levels of support to our membership.

The ongoing impact of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine on the Group and Company’s business has been assessed and has been determined to not be material.

The IDeA receives grant funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). This funding is received on behalf of the Local Government Association and its related bodies. The level of funding has been formally determined by DLUHC for the year to 31 March 2025, and at a higher level than for 2023/24.

Funding for some of the Company’s principal funded programmes has also been agreed by the funders, with further awards expected shortly, despite some funding now being required to be secured via competitive tender. The majority of Member subscription income has been received for the year, with more than 85 per cent of members signed up to our Direct Debit collection scheme.

For the investment property rental income streams, there has been, and is expected to be, no interruption for 18 Smith Square. At Layden House we have secured a single tenant for the office floors on a long term lease, and active marketing of the two ground floor retail units has begun, such that no material impact is expected to the Group. Therefore, it is considered that the majority of the Group and Company’s income for the foreseeable future is secure, and the Directors have therefore adopted the going concern basis for the preparation of these accounts.

Principal risks and uncertainties

Our arrangements for risk management include the regular review of the LGA’s strategic risk register with clear responsibilities assigned to named senior officers for the management of the principal risks. These included ensuring that we deliver on our objectives and have impact for our members, ensuring that membership levels are maintained, ensuring that we have effective governance arrangements and financial sustainability, and ensuring that we maintain employee capacity and capability. We have also put in place clear governance and project management arrangements for projects designated as being high risk from a financial or operational point view.

Our principal liabilities other than those arising in ordinary day to day business relate to our combined pension position and four main liabilities: structural interest free debt of £8.2 million due to the predecessor Local Authority Associations and related to the purchase of the Smith Square property; and £18.0 million from Westminster City Council which we used to fund the development of our properties. The valuation of our combined pension surplus was £54.4 million at 31 March 2024 (£34.6 million surplus at 31 March 2023), driven by changes in the actuarial assumptions. In order to pay off the historic pension deficit and liabilities for past employees, we have been making additional contributions as directed by the actuaries. Following the Triennial Valuation as at 31 March 2022 showing an overall Scheme surplus, these additional contributions have reduced to £nil per annum for the three years to 2025/26. Actuarial advice indicates that on reasonable long term assumptions, there will be no deficit for the LGA and IDeA.

Key performance indicators

We have reviewed the impact of our work and the delivery of our priorities through robust performance management which has included regular reports to the LGA Board. In addition we have reviewed our own efficiency and effectiveness through a number of key indicators. These include the number of organisations in membership, which has remained the same in 2023/24 as the prior year, with only two councils out of membership at the year end. All 22 Welsh councils are in membership through the Welsh LGA’s corporate membership of the LGA.

Between October 2023 and the end of January 2024 we carried out our 10th perceptions survey of LGA members. This comprehensive research – gathering views from over 900 leaders, chief executives, officers and a range of councillors – helps us to better understand the extent to which LGA members understand and engage with the LGA and our offer; how they view the LGA and our communications; and their views on and experiences of the support and resources we offer.

While all key measures remain significantly above those recorded in the first survey in 2012, there have been no significant changes since 2021 on the key measures, with directional declines of between 2 and 3 percentage points:

• 76 per cent know a great deal or a fair amount about the LGA (-2 compared to 2021)
• 76 per cent would speal positively about the LGA (-3)
• 73 per cent are satisfied with the work of the LGA (-3)
• 81 per cent feel the LGA keeps them informed about their work (-2)
• 54 per cent believe the LGA demonstrates value for money. Elsewhere in the survey, there were high levels of agreement (85 per cent) that the LGA reflects the values and priorities of local government, and positive recognition of our events and conferences and our improvement support activities.

Our action plan for the year ahead will look at specific, targeted interventions to address some of these findings with different groups surveyed.

We review our financial sustainability by carefully controlling our staff costs. Currently we have 496 employees in the year ended 31 March 2024 (compared to 443 in the previous year). We continue to monitor employee absence and our average annual number of sick days per employee has remained consistent at 3.9 days, unchanged from March 2023. As an absence rate (1.5 per cent), this remains below national averages for sickness (3 per cent for public sector – Source: Office for National Statistics 2021).

We continue to pay close attention to the collection of outstanding debt. The percentage of debtors over 12 months was 3 per cent of the total trade debtors at March 2024 (3 per cent 2023).

Market value of land and buildings

The market value of 18 Smith Square, which was previously owned by Local Government Association (Properties), is considered at the latest valuation in March 2024 to be £41.35 million (2023 - £45.0 million) with a net decrease of £3.65 million in the year. In the Group accounts 34% (2022/23 - 34 per cent) of the above market value is reflected as an investment in the Group’s balance sheet. The remainder held as an operational fixed asset at the current net book value of £15.5 million.

Layden House is classified as an investment property and has a market value at 31 March 2024 of £55.0 million (2023 - £62.5 million), a decrease of £7.5 million in the year.

The Cushman & Wakefield advisory team who prepared the reports advise that the drop in values in both properties is due to the continued fall in commercial real estate disposal values, which is largely attributed to the current high cost of borrowing and the resultant cost of servicing debt, as well as investor sentiment. However, occupational rents for leases have increased. Cushman & Wakefield believe that property values reached their lowest point in December 2023 will now start to recover during 2024/25.

Environmental matters – minimising the impact of climate change Through the General Assembly in July 2019, the LGA declared a climate emergency, and aligned its priorities to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The LGA is committed to minimising the environmental impacts of its activities, reducing pollution and CO2 emissions and contributing to a healthy future for all and sets out this commitment in its Corporate Environmental Policy. The past three years has demonstrated that working and attending remotely now provides a real alternative to travelling to 18 Smith Square, both for staff and for the elected members who are actively engaged in the work of the LGA.

Flexible working

Our flexible working policy brought added flexibility for office-based staff to vary their work locations, subject to their role and to the needs of the business. For those who do not need to be based in 18 Smith Square, we offer home-based contracts.

This means less journeys to work and a better work-life balance. Longer term it may enable us to further reduce the amount of office space that we occupy.

Our ICT is designed to support flexible working, enabling staff to log in from home or other venue with a secure wi-fi connection, or from public transport when they are on the move.

Head office - 18 Smith Square

All meeting rooms at 18 Smith Square are equipped with videoconferencing facilities, cameras and sound bars to support virtual or hybrid meetings and events.

Secure cycle facilities and showers are provided for those who prefer to cycle or run to work. There are no car parking facilities. Following its refurbishment 18 Smith Square’s EPC rating moved from F to B – a significant achievement for a heritage building in a conservation area. Lights are energy efficient LEDs, with motion sensors that switched off when not required. Windows that do not face the conservation area are triple glazed to reduce energy loss. Recycling bins are provided on every floor.

Travel

Where staff and members need to travel they are encouraged to use public transport wherever practicable to reduce the impact on the environment.

Procurement

The LGA has a robust procurement policy and process, which underpins the importance of all our contractors being able to demonstrate a commitment to sustainability and combatting climate change. Our procurement policy is undergoing a full review in 2024/25 to ensure it is in accordance with new legislation and the LGA’s commitment to sustainability as well as equality, diversity and inclusion. Our procurement documentation states:

In adhering to our commitments, the contractor should have systems in place to account for and minimise environmental impacts in all areas of contract delivery”.

Community and social issues, respect for human rights

At their meeting on 11 March 2020, the LGA Board agreed to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.

The LGA’s Public Duties and Volunteering policy makes provision for colleagues to take time off for approved public and community activities.

A significant strand of our policy work is targeted at improving social cohesion, adult and children’s social care, and enhancing communities.

The LGA recognises that it has a responsibility to take a robust approach to modern slavery and human trafficking. The organisation supports the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and opposes modern slavery and human trafficking. It is committed to ensuring that such practices have no place within its supply chain or other activities. In addition to the LGA’s responsibility as an employer, it also acknowledges its duty to notify the Secretary of State of suspected victims of modern slavery or human trafficking as introduced by section 52 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Anti-fraud, bribery and corruption matters

The LGA has an anti-fraud, bribery and corruption policy and response plan which is reviewed annually. The Audit and Risk Assurance Committee receives an annual report on any instances of fraud, bribery or corruption. There was one instance of staff expenses fraud identified in the year, with a value of circa £5,000 lost. No other instances were reported in the past year.

Section 172 statement

Section 172(1) of the Companies Act 2006 states that directors of a company must act in the way he/she considers, in good faith, would be most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole, and in doing so have regard (amongst other matters) to:

• the likely consequences of any decision in the long term
• the interests of the company's employees
• the need to foster the company's business relationships with suppliers, customers and others
• the impact of the company's operations on the community and the environment
• the desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct, and
• the need to act fairly as between members of the company.

At the commencement of all Board meetings, Directors are reminded of their responsibilities in regard to this requirement, and agree to abide by it in their decision making.

By Order of the Board

Shaun Davies 
LGA Chair and Chair of the LGA Board 7 June 2024

The Directors present their report and the audited financial statements of the Group and Company for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Future developments

Future developments are set out in the Strategic Report.

Dividends

The LGA Constitution and the articles of the companies that the LGA controls directly do not permit the payment of dividends.

Directors

The Directors of the Company during the year ended 31 March 2024 were:

• Labour Shaun Davies [Chair]
• Nesil Caliskan [Vice-chair] Appointed 4 July 2023
• Michael Payne [Deputy-chair]
• Georgia Gould [Deputy-chair]
• Beverley Craig [Deputy-chair] Appointed 4 July 2023
• Tudor Evans OBE [Deputy-chair] Resigned 4 July 2023
• Anntoinette Bramble [Deputy-chair] Resigned 4 July 2023
• Conservative Kevin Bentley [Senior Vice-chair] Appointed 4 July 2023
• Izzi Seccombe OBE [Vice-chair]
• Morris Bright MBE [Deputy-chairman] Appointed 4 July 2023
• Abi Brown OBE [Deputy-chairman] Appointed 4 July 2023
• David Fothergill [Deputy-chairman] Appointed 4 July 2023
• James Jamieson OBE [Chairman] Resigned 4 July 2023
• John Fuller OBE [Deputy-chairman] Resigned 4 July 2023
• Robert Alden [Deputy-chairman] Resigned 4 July 2023
• Baroness Teresa O’Neill OBE [Deputy-chairman] Resigned 4 July 2023 Liberal Democrat Joseph Harris [Vice-chair] Bridget Smith [Deputy Chair]
• Independent Marianne Overton MBE [Vice-chair]
• Caroline Jackson [Deputy-chair] Appointed 4 July 2023
• Hannah Dalton [Deputy-chair] Resigned 4 July 2023

Directors’ indemnity

The company has provided qualifying third-party indemnities for the benefit of its Directors. These were provided during the year and remain in force at the date of this report.

Financial instruments

The Group operates a centralised treasury function which is responsible for managing the liquidity, interest and foreign currency risks associated with the Group’s activities.

Our operations expose us to a variety of financial risks that include ensuring that the funds held by us are, first and foremost, secure; second, that adequate liquidity is maintained so that sufficient funds are always available to meet current liabilities; and third that the best return on investment is obtained subject to achievement of the first two objectives.

Price risk

We have relatively low exposure to price risk, despite emerging inflationary pressures. Our employee costs are controlled through formal annual negotiations with employee representatives. Our back office services are now mainly delivered in house, with ICT services delivered through a jointly owned company with Brent Council, by Brent ICT team. Other services are procured from a range of external providers through competitive tendering arrangements in line with our formal procurement procedures.

Credit risk

We have a debt management policy and clear credit control procedures which include regular review and follow-up of our trade debtors.

Liquidity risk

Our agreed approach is to manage our revenue budget so as to deliver a balanced budget that does not require a net call on cash for the financial year as a whole. We maintain an adequate level of day to day liquid funds to pay liabilities promptly as they fall due.

Cash flow risk

We have both interest-bearing assets and liabilities. Subject to our liquidity requirements, which are assessed on a weekly basis, surplus funds are deposited in accordance with the Approved Investment Strategy as agreed by the LGA Board.

Political and charitable contributions

Neither the LGA nor its subsidiaries made any charitable donations over £2,000 or any political donations or incurred any political expenditure during the year.

Branches outside the UK

The Group has a branch in Brussels.

Post Balance Sheet Events

The Directors are not aware of any material Post Balance sheet events.

Employees

Details of the number of employees and related costs can be found in Note 3 to the financial statements. In line with the LGA Pay Policy the LGA publishes the salaries of its Corporate Leadership Team on its website. These are updated annually to reflect the national pay award. Details of the statutory requirement to publish gender pay-gap remuneration statistics can also be found on the LGA website.

Staff are provided with relevant information on the LGA’s activities, and are encouraged to be involved in the LGA’s performance, by being invited to regular informal engagement opportunities such as the monthly All Staff webinar (which includes an annual update on financial performance), by sitting on panels such as the Commercial Ideas Lab and IT Strategy Board, as well as receiving updates through the intranet and associated bulletins. Managers are encouraged to have regular one-to-one updates with their direct reports. Our HR team meets with union representatives monthly.

The LGA is in the second year of a three-year People Plan, launched in February 2023 and aligned to our Business Plan. The plan sets out our commitments to ensure that we can attract, recruit, retain and develop an engaged workforce, whilst recognising the contributions that staff make to the success of our organisation. The People Plan includes our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion with a specific EDI strategy and action plan which is due to be reviewed in 2024.

The LGA and its leadership are committed to listening and responding to staff concerns, to closely monitoring what our data tells us and to developing the organisation as a fully Ambitious, Collaborative & Inclusive workplace. In 2023 the LGA evolved its EDI Steering Group to drive delivery of all people strategy, becoming the People & EDI Strategic Group. The group is chaired by senior management’s People & EDI champion and includes representatives from all directorates, our five staff network groups and the Trade Union.

The LGA offers apprenticeship and tailored development programme opportunities, including the recently launched BAME career development programme. All staff have personal training and development plans with access to a variety of learning opportunities.

Statement of engagement with suppliers, customers and others in a business relationship with the Company

The LGA Executive Advisory Board comprises representative Members to ensure its ‘customers’ are at the heart of its decision making on policy decision. Councillors’ Forum and the General Assembly / Annual Conference also make sure that the customer views are regularly canvassed.

The LGA follows all public procurement rules (including OJEU where required) to ensure that suppliers and others in a business relationship are treated fairly and transparently. A list of the largest spend by supplier is available on the company website. The LGA expects its suppliers to pay their employees the London Living Wage, have in place a Modern Slavery policy, and to support the LGA in achieving the United Nations Strategic Development Goals.

The LGA voluntarily follows the Government Prompt Payment Policy, with the aim of ensuring that 100% of all undisputed and valid invoices are paid within 30 days, with the Strategic Management Team receiving quarterly Key Performance Indicators on adherence.

Statement of corporate governance arrangements

The LGA Board oversees management of the LGA’s financial and other resources, and the financial and accommodation strategies for the wider group.

The LGA Board has considered these accounts in the light of a report from the LGA Audit and Risk Assurance Committee, chaired by Cllr Robert Alden, whose membership is independent of the LGA’s other Boards and Panels.

Provision of Information to Auditors

So far as each of the Directors is aware at the time this report is approved:

• there is no relevant audit information of which the Company’s auditors are unaware: and
• the directors have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information.

Auditor

A tendering process is in progress in relation to the appointment of the role of Statutory Auditor. A resolution for the appointment of the auditors of the Company is to be proposed at a forthcoming Board Meeting.

This report was approved by the Board on 7 June 2024 and signed on its behalf.

Shaun Davies 
LGA Chair and Chair of the LGA Board

The Directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations. Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Directors have elected to prepare the Group and Parent Company financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law the Directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Group and Company and of the profit or loss of the Group for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Directors are required to:

• selected suitable Accounting Policies and then apply them consistently;
• make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
• state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards, including FRS102 have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in business.

The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Group and Company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Group and Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the Group’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of the financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of the Local Government Association (the ‘Association’) and its subsidiary (the ‘Group’) for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the Consolidated and Association Statements of Comprehensive Income, the Consolidated and Association Statements of Financial Position, the Consolidated and Association Statements of Changes in Equity, the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the Group’s and of the Association’s affairs as at 31 March 2024 and of the Group’s surplus for the year then ended;
• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directors’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the parent Association's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

• the information given in the Strategic Report and the Directors’ Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
• the Strategic Report and Directors’ Report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements. Matters on which we are required to report by exception In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and the parent Association and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Strategic Report or the Directors’ Report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
• adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
• certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

Responsibilities of directors

As explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities statement, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the Group and parent Association financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the Group and parent Association financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the Group’s and the parent Association’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the group or the parent Association to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

We obtained an understanding of the Group and parent Association and the sector in which it operates to identify laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected to have a direct effect on the financial statements. We obtained our understanding in this regard through discussions with management, sector research and application of cumulative audit knowledge and experience.

We determined the principal laws and regulations relevant to the company in this regard to be those arising from the Companies Act 2006, Financial Reporting Standard 102 and relevant employee legislation.

We designed our audit procedures to ensure the audit team considered whether there were any indications of non-compliance by the company with those laws and regulations. These procedures included, but were not limited to enquiries of management, review of minutes and review of legal and regulatory correspondence.

We also identified the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud. We considered, in addition to the non-rebuttable presumption of a risk of fraud arising from management override of controls, that there was potential for management bias in the valuation of the investment properties. We addressed this through review of the valuation report prepared by management’s expert, testing the reasonableness of inputs to their calculation, and challenging assumptions applied in the valuations for example by agreement to third party metrics.

We also identified potential for management bias in the judgements made around recoverability of debtors. We addressed this through examination of post year end cash received, review of correspondence with debtors and discussion of recoverability with management.

We also identified potential for management bias in the accounting for the defined benefit pension schemes. We addressed this through review of the actuary reports prepared by management’s expert, testing the reasonableness of inputs to their calculation, and challenging assumptions applied in the valuations.

As in all of our audits, we addressed the risk of fraud arising from management override of controls by performing audit procedures which included but were not limited to the testing of journals; reviewing accounting estimates for evidence of bias; and evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone, other than the company and the company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Alastair Duke (Senior Statutory Auditor)
15 Westferry Circus 
For and on behalf of PKF Littlejohn LLP Canary Wharf Statutory Auditor London E14 4HD

LGA consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024