Councils in England will receive £53.9bn in funding for the coming financial year, including more than £1bn of additional funding for social care, the government has confirmed.
The package represents an increase of £3.5bn compared with 2021-22, including a grant worth £822m for councils “to spend as they see fit” to best meet local needs.
The government says the funding set out by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) will enable councils to continue to deliver vital services and look after the most vulnerable in their communities.
It will also support councils to play a “significant role” in the government’s levelling-up agenda.
Protection from ‘excessive’ council tax rises
The government says that this settlement will also protect residents from “excessive” council tax increases.
From next year, the amount council tax can be increased by without a vote has been reduced to 2%, with an extra 1% for councils with adult social care responsibilities.
Commenting on the funding, Housing Secretary Michael Gove said: “Councils continue to deliver for their communities and have a major role to play in our central mission of levelling up the country.
“Today’s funding package represents a real-terms increase from last year’s settlement and will make sure councils can improve vital frontline services, support vulnerable people, and protect residents from excessive council tax rises as we build back better form the pandemic.”
The Provisional Finance Settlement includes:
- More than £1bn of additional funding available for social care
- £554m for English councils in 2022/23
- £111m to councils with responsibility for services such as homelessness, planning, recycling and refuse collection, and leisure services
- An £85m Rural Service Delivery Grant
- Business Rates Retention pilots
- An uplift to the Revenue Support Grant, worth over £70m
The government says it is committed to ensuring that funding allocations for councils are based on an up-to-date assessment of their needs and resources.
The data used to assess this has not been updated in a number of years, dating from 2013-14 to a large degree, and even as far back as 2000.
Over the coming months, the DLUHC says it will work closely with the sector and other stakeholders to update this and to look at the challenges and opportunities facing the sector before consulting on any potential changes.
As part of this, options will be considered to support local authorities through transitional protection.
Councils should note that one off grant funding provided in the Local Government Finance Settlement in 2022/23 will be excluded from potential transitional protections.
The provisional settlement consultation will be open for 4 weeks, closing on 13 January 2022.
The government will provide confirmation of the final local government finance settlement once consultation is complete in the new year.
Image: Ascannio/Shutterstock
Read next: New homes to produce 30% less carbon
Are you a social housing professional? Sign up for a FREE MEMBERSHIP to upload news stories, post job vacancies, and connect with colleagues on our secure social feed.