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LGA responds to Budget 2020

Cllr James Jamieson, Chairman of the Local Government Association, responding to Budget 2020 

“Long-term investment in public services is desperately-needed so it is encouraging that this Budget signals a shift towards more spending on local priorities, such as building homes, boosting connectivity and filling potholes. 

“Councils are best placed to ensure that infrastructure investment meets the needs of communities. With local control over how it is spent, councils can play a key role in providing genuinely affordable homes, fixing the nation’s roads, delivering high-speed broadband and high-quality mobile connectivity, boosting local economies, and tackling environmental challenges.

“There is clear and significant evidence that lives are improved, and the country gets better value for money when councils have the freedoms, funding, and maximum flexibility to make local decisions, so we are pleased to see further progress on new and improved devolution deals announced yesterday.

“This should trigger renewed momentum around the devolution process to all parts of the country so councils can do more to help the Government grow local economies and improve the lives of their communities. This will require different approaches for different areas, including how they are governed.

“Councils in England face an overall funding gap of almost £6.5 billion by 2025, just to meet inflationary and demographic pressures. We are pleased the Chancellor has signalled the start of the Spending Review process and we look forward to working with government to ensure it provides a sustainable, long-term funding settlement for councils.”

Related information

Budget related Press Releases from the LGA

Original article link: https://www.local.gov.uk/lga-responds-budget-2020

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