County Councils Network | LocalGov

CCN: Two-thirds of council budgets spent on care

18/03/2024

Council chiefs have called for an ‘honest discussion’ about services as new research reveals local authorities spend two-thirds of their budgets on care.

Budget: Boost for preventative services 

06/03/2024

Funding for preventative services has been announced as part of the Spring Budget in an attempt to relieve local government’s demand pressures.

Local government launches cultural services alliance

01/03/2024

Organisations representing local government have joined forces to form a new National Alliance for Cultural Services.

Sector should adopt national branding campaign to boost workforce

05/02/2024

Local government should adopt a national branding campaign to recruit and retain staff amid a worsening workforce crisis, the County Councils’ Network has urged.

Culture spend down by £500m

01/02/2024

Analysis has uncovered an almost £500m reduction in councils’ spending on libraries, culture, heritage and tourism since the onset of austerity.

Conservative MPs call for emergency funding for councils

22/01/2024

MPs representing county areas have called on the Government to provide emergency funding to cash-strapped councils to prevent further cuts to local services.

Council bosses back data use to improve care

07/12/2023

An increased use of data in children’s social care could improve outcomes and deliver much-needed savings, the County Councils Network (CCN) has said.

One in five councils report bankruptcy fears

06/12/2023

A poll of council leaders and chief executives has revealed that one in five think it likely that their chief finance officer will need to issue a Section 114.

Sector unites in plea to chancellor

22/11/2023

The local government sector in England has put out a call to Jeremy Hunt to ‘address the significant financial challenges faced by councils’.

Gove hints at autumn statement gifts

21/11/2023

Levelling up secretary Michael Gove hinted Christmas may come early for councils when Jeremy Hunt unveils his autumn statement this week.

Councils call for emergency school transport funding

20/11/2023

‘Spiralling’ transport costs for children with special educational needs are threatening the financial stability of England’s largest councils, according to a report.

Land value tax could redistribute billions

09/11/2023

A plan to reform business rates could lead to billions of pounds being redistributed from high land value areas to other parts of the country.

Uncertainty hangs over funding for growth projects

31/10/2023

Councils have voiced fresh concerns as they remain in the dark over future funding for responsibilities inherited from Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).

Demand responsive buses won't fill gap, CCN says

25/10/2023

Three in four large rural councils in England are rolling out demand-responsive transport (DRT) bus services but councils have warned that they are not financially sustainable or a substitute for government bus service subsidies.

Councils ‘held back’ on net zero

24/10/2023

The organisations that represent English councils have collaborated in a call for the Government to change its approach on delivering net zero.

London Councils eyes apprenticeship levy devolution

09/10/2023

London Councils has named securing devolution of the apprenticeship levy to its boroughs to fund skills and employment activity as a key short-term priority.

County areas behind on EV charging

28/09/2023

The number of publicly available electric vehicle (EV) charge points in England’s county and rural areas lags ‘far behind’ major towns and cities, according to a report.

Rural bus services at ‘historic low’

19/07/2023

One in four bus routes in county and rural areas have vanished over the last decade as passenger numbers dropped to a historic low, according to a new report.

‘Clear plan’ needed for transfer of LEP functions

14/07/2023

County council leaders have called on the Government to set out a ‘clear and decisive’ framework for the transition of LEP functions to local authorities.

Increased referrals causing children’s services overspend

06/07/2023

Four in five of England’s largest councils overspent on their children’s services budget last year because of more young people requiring care since pandemic.

Adult obesity in rural areas up by over 1m

15/05/2023

Rural areas are facing a surge in numbers of obese and overweight people but are hamstrung in their efforts to deal with it, according to council leaders.

Hewitt Review calls for social care to be ‘national priority’

04/04/2023

The former health secretary's report on Integrated Care Systems called for further funding and a workforce strategy for social care.

County council chiefs issue ‘bleak’ finance warning

23/03/2023

County councils need to make £1bn worth of savings in order to cope with ‘unprecedented’ financial pressures, county council chiefs say.

Counties’ infrastructure funding faces cuts, report claims

28/02/2023

Funding for infrastructure in county areas could be cut under new planning reforms, council leaders have warned.

County chiefs call for powers to solve rural workforce crisis

06/02/2023

Council leaders have called for powers to tackle labour squeeze as a new analysis reveals that hundreds of thousands of people have left the rural workforce.

Social care requests almost hits two million

20/12/2022

Local authority leaders have warned that this will be ‘one of their toughest winters yet’ as the number of requests for care reaches almost two million.

District concern in wake of finance settlement

20/12/2022

Concern over funding for districts has been voiced following the announcement of the provisional local government finance settlement for 2023-24.

County leaders call for devolution to be ‘turbocharged’

21/11/2022

County council leaders have called on the Government to ‘turbocharge’ devolution to help them level up by attracting more foreign direct investment (FDI).

Counties issue ICS warning

21/11/2022

Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) must not become yet another NHS reorganisation to work around, chairman of the County Councils’ Network (CCN) has warned.

Number of children in care will soar to nearly 100,000 without reform, councils warn

28/10/2022

Almost 100,000 children will enter care in the next three years if the Government fails to deliver social care reforms, council leaders have warned today.

Council leaders call for strategic planning powers

19/10/2022

A review of planning reforms and the re-introduction of strategic planning are needed if the Government is to achieve housebuilding targets, councils say.

Counties welcome care reform delay reports

19/10/2022

County councils have reacted to reports the Government is to push back social care reforms by at least a year.

Government urged to ‘turbocharge’ devolution

26/09/2022

Council leaders have urged the Government to go ‘further’ with devolution and to conclude deals with the first cohort of county areas by the end of autumn.

Truss told to ‘turbocharge devolution’

06/09/2022

Council leaders have welcomed the new Prime Minister and called on the Government to re-affirm its commitment to levelling up and devolution.

£1.14bn East Midlands devo deal agreed

30/08/2022

A landmark £1.14bn devolution deal for a new combined county authority (CCA) is on offer for the East Midlands, to include a new elected regional mayor.

Government not even close to ‘rescuing’ social care

03/08/2022

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee said billions of pounds ‘urgently’ needed to be injected into the system to meet both short-term and long-term needs.

Councils face record £2.4bn deficits in SEN this year

29/07/2022

Local authority deficits in special educational needs (SEN) have reached an ‘unmanageable’ £2.4bn this year, new research has uncovered.

Care warning after elderly 'population boom'

15/07/2022

A ‘population boom’ of over-65s is piling pressure on adult care services, county councils have warned.

Minister delays self-funding care reforms

07/07/2022

Residential care self-funders will not be able to ask their council to arrange care for them at the lower local authority rate until April 2025, minister Gillian Keegan has announced.

Council chiefs warn of 'disastrous' financial crisis

27/06/2022

More councils could be tipped into financial crisis while others face emergency cuts due to soaring inflation and living wage increases, the LGA warned today.

Counties in inflation funding call

14/06/2022

County councils have called for extra Government funding to cope with huge increases caused by inflation.

Adult social care reforms could cost nearly £26bn

25/05/2022

Adult social care reforms could cost a minimum of £10bn more than currently estimated and will require over 4,000 new social work staff, new study reveals.

County council chiefs welcome fire service white paper

19/05/2022

County council leaders have welcomed the Government’s decision not to remove local fire services from the oversight of upper-tier local authorities.

Councillors back move to hybrid model of council meetings

19/05/2022

Over two-thirds of councillors believe a permanent move to a hybrid model of both online and in-person council meetings would improve the diversity of local councils, according to a new survey.

Care homes could face 'widespread closures' under reforms, counties warn

18/03/2022

Care homes are at risk of closure as the Government has ‘seriously underestimated’ the cost of its social care reforms, county councils have warned today.

Tens of thousands fewer children could avoid going into council care

09/03/2022

Tens of thousands of young people could avoid going into council care if services are reshaped under a new ‘optimised delivery model’ based on a family-focused way of delivering support, says a report.

LA maintenance funding frozen after cut fears

04/03/2022

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced individual allocations for all local highway authorities outside London and the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) – with cash frozen at 2021-2022 levels for the next three years.

Counties warn funding cuts put road maintenance plans at risk

08/02/2022

County and rural councils will see their funding for road maintenance fall by nearly £500m by April this year, new analysis has warned.

Counties' concern at care funding

17/12/2021

County councils have expressed concern at the level of central funding to rebalance care markets.

Counties face funding shortfall of over £500m next year

10/12/2021

County councils are facing a funding gap of over £500m in 2022 resulting in council tax rises or service cuts, leaders have warned today.

Counties call for strategic planning model

08/12/2021

County councils are facing 'excessive' pressures on their infrastructure due to housing development, according to a new report.

Powers warning ahead of new deals

07/12/2021

A new report today warns areas reluctant to accept directly-elected leaders in the next wave of devolution deals may be offered ‘fewer powers and flexibilities’.

Counties warn of a 'chasm' in electric vehicle chargers

08/11/2021

There are more publicly available charging points in London than in England's counties combined, new analysis has shown.

County areas are 'poor relation' in internet speeds, MPs warn

21/10/2021

County ares could become the 'poor relation' to cities in the Government's gigabit rollout, MPs have warned today.

County leaders urge ministers not to get 'bogged down' on mandatory mayors

13/10/2021

County councils have urged the Government not to insist on introducing more mayors after a poll revealed that only one in three people believe they should spearhead devolution deals.

Counties in council tax warning

07/10/2021

County leaders have warned council tax bills would have to rise by almost a quarter over three years to get close to eliminating their deficit.

County council leaders warn social care reforms ‘fall short’

16/09/2021

Social care reforms will protect more individuals from large care costs but will not improve access to care and could make local care markets ‘unsustainable’, county council leaders say.

Councils call for the tools to support small charities to recover post-COVID

04/08/2021

Local authorities need to be provided with funding and tools to ensure that they can continue supporting smaller charities after the pandemic, county leaders say.

Empowering county councils ‘game-changer’ for levelling-up

22/07/2021

County leaders have written to the Prime Minister welcoming his commitment to empower county authorities and urging him to follow through on what they describe as a ‘game-changer’ for levelling-up.

Johnson: Bring your devolution plans to me

15/07/2021

Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for local leaders to take their devolution plans to him in a keynote speech from the West Midlands this morning.

Call to ‘mainstream’ assistive technology in adult social care

14/07/2021

Assistive technology should be placed at the centre of adult social care to make it more targeted and preventative, a new report has argued today.

Special needs deficits to grow to £1.3bn in two years

30/06/2021

A ‘spiralling deficit’ in special educational needs services (SEN) is expected to grow to an ‘unmanageable’ £1.3bn in just two years’ time, county councils have warned.

Council chiefs call for long-term funding to boost post-pandemic resilience

09/06/2021

County council leaders argue that local authorities need a long-term funding settlement to invest in organisational resilience.

Counties see fastest growth in number of people claiming out of work benefits

28/05/2021

County councils have warned that a 'narrow and simplistic focus' in the levelling-up agenda risks England’s economic recovery from the pandemic.

Local elections 2021: Counties buck the Tory trend

09/05/2021

County councils have bucked the trend of Conservative success in the local election on Thursday, with a mixed picture for the party.

Hancock unveils £7bn funding boost for NHS and social care

19/03/2021

The Government has announced an extra £341m for infection control measures and rapid testing in adult social care services.

Council road repairs cash down £400m next year

15/02/2021

County councils have said they will have ‘no choice’ but to cancel high priority highway maintenance works next year after the Government announced capital funding allocations down £398m on current levels.

Social care should remain delivered by councils, says new report

10/02/2021

Tens of thousands of people could live more independent lives if councils keep hold of social care under government plans to overhaul health services, a new report has insisted.

Call for ‘urgent clarity’ on elections

06/01/2021

Speculation over whether local elections will take place in May as scheduled has been labelled ‘unhelpful’ by councils.

Councils welcome announcement of third national lockdown

05/01/2021

Councils have urged residents to follow the guidelines for the third national lockdown in a bid to stop the continued spread of coronavirus.

Funding gap has 'devastating' impact on rural and remote bus services

10/12/2020

Rural and remote bus services saw journeys fall by 97 million last year due to a £348m funding gap, a new report has warned.

Councils warn about 'significant' overspends on children’s services

24/11/2020

The number of vulnerable young people referred to councils’ children’s services increased by 15% in the first three months after the first lockdown, figures have shown.

County councils warn of insolvency risk without frontline cuts

12/11/2020

Only a fifth of England's largest councils are confident they can deliver a balanced budget next year without dramatic reduction to services, a new survey has revealed.

Calls for collaboration to fill the ‘strategic planning void’

21/10/2020

Closer collaboration between councils, health bodies and businesses could ‘reinvigorate strategic planning’ a new report has argued.

Reorganisation battle lines drawn over think-tank report

20/10/2020

The bitter war of words between counties and districts over reorganisation stepped up this week as battle lines were drawn around a new think-tank report.

Counties warn of test and trace ‘missed opportunity’

16/10/2020

Calls for more support for local contact tracing have been redoubled after the national system’s success rate plummeted.

Counties warn childcare closures will hit remote areas the hardest

25/09/2020

One in ten childcare providers in England’s most remote areas are at risk of closure this winter, county councils have warned today.

Countywide unitaries ‘could save £3bn’

27/08/2020

Replacing two-tier counties with one unitary authority could deliver almost £3bn savings over five years, according to research published by the County Councils Network (CCN) today.

Call to scrap two-tier local government system in rural areas

04/08/2020

The ‘confusing' two-tier model of local government should be abolished and replaced with single unitary councils, a report has argued today.

Over half of workforce in county areas 'at risk' due to pandemic

04/08/2020

Over half the workforce in England's county areas work in sectors ‘at risk’ due to the coronavirus crisis, research has warned today.

Counties warn oversight of social care must remain with councils

30/07/2020

County councils have warned against a ‘knee-jerk’ centralisation of the social care system in the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis.

Councils call for clarity on income guarantee

17/07/2020

Council leaders have urged the Government to provide further details on the promised compensation for loss of income due to the pandemic.

Councils given £300m and key tracking role

22/05/2020

Councils in England will be handed £300m by the Government as they are given a key role in driving forward testing and tracing. 

Councils call for £5bn 'income guarantee'

18/05/2020

England's largest councils are calling on the Government to provide a £5bn 'income guarantee to avoid them having to declare insolvency during the coronavirus pandemic.

Johnson announces £600m for infection control in care homes

14/05/2020

Councils have welcomed the £600m extra funding for infection control within care homes.

Districts win in latest allocations

28/04/2020

Districts have won a significantly higher share of funding in the latest allocations of government cash to help councils cope with coronavirus.

Counties call for clarity on how coronavirus cash will be allocated

28/04/2020

County councils have called for clarity on how the latest round of emergency cash to deal with the coronavirus crisis will be split.

Rural counties see a spike in coronavirus cases

09/04/2020

The number of new coronavirus cases in rural areas has begun to catch up with England’s urban hotspots, the County Councils Network (CCN) has warned.<

Counties warn against a blanket council tax deferral scheme

08/04/2020

County councils have warned that a blanket council tax deferral scheme could create significant financial problems for local government.

Counties voice concern over capacity of community pharmacies

07/04/2020

County councils have warned that local pharmacies could struggle to deliver medicine in rural and remote locations.

Counties warn about service closures during coronavirus

30/03/2020

Councils are being forced to close or reduce more services in order to divert resources to fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

Council leaders warn Whitehall not to ‘forget the shires’

05/03/2020

County council leaders have warned the Government not to ‘overlook’ the shires as it focuses on levelling up ‘red wall’ areas in the North and Midlands.

Councils face £19bn funding gap by 2025

21/02/2020

Councils will face a funding shortfall of £19.1bn over the next five years despite planning council tax increases, new research has shown.

County motorists 'poor relation' to major cities

13/01/2020

Shire county authorities are failing to receive a ‘fair share’ of funding for roads with London receiving three times higher investment, new analysis has found today.

County leaders call for an end to ‘city centric policy obsession’

18/12/2019

Councils have urged the new Government to focus less on cities and to invest more in towns and deprived communities to help level up ‘left-behind’ areas.

Calls for 'genuine devolution' by incoming Government

18/11/2019

The chairman of the County Councils Network has called on any new government to implement 'genuine devolution'.

Core Cities' £28bn Shared Prosperity Fund warning

26/09/2019

The proposed UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) must be worth at least £28bn over seven years if the UK is to deliver its devolved policy objectives, a leading sector body has warned.

Social care services to be decommissioned unless funding confirmed

30/08/2019

County leaders have warned councils will soon start to decommission services unless social care funding is confirmed by Whitehall.

County council chiefs urge PM to ‘level up’ funding across country

19/08/2019

More than 30 leaders of England’s county councils have called on the new Government to ‘level up’ investment in all parts of the country.

Drop ‘metro mayor’ devolution requirement, PM told

29/07/2019

County council leaders have called on Boris Johnson to ensure there is no mayoral requirement for a ‘full’ devolution deal.

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Banning urban pesticide use

RSPB and PAN are working on a letter from local councillors calling on the Government to introduce a national ban on urban pesticide use. Find out more below.
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