Growth ambitions will fall flat unless the Government tackles council finances and ensures devolution benefits local authorities everywhere, not just strategic authorities, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned ahead of the Autumn Budget.

While backing the Prime Minister's plans for fiscal devolution and new powers over skills, transport, housing and public services, the LGA said councils – the constituent bodies of strategic authorities – need their own access to funding and powers to deliver services and prosperity, including in areas without mayors.

A financially vulnerable council sector, the association warned, risks undermining strategic authorities' value altogether.

Councils face a £7bn funding gap by 2028/29 despite years of savings, with one in five social care authorities needing Exceptional Financial Support to balance 2026/27 budgets. The LGA said this could mean longer social care waits, rising homelessness and cuts to libraries, roads and waste collection.

Cllr Eamonn O'Brien, LGA chair, said the Government could not devolve power on fragile financial foundations, adding that genuine devolution ‘needs to reach every part of the country and every level of local government.’

‘Our Autumn Budget submission sets out how, with sustainable funding and meaningful powers, local government can deliver the homes, skills, public services and opportunities for our communities,’ he added.

The LGA's key Autumn Budget asks:

• Deliver meaningful fiscal devolution, including revenue retention and raising powers for councils

• Introduce a revised approach to Exceptional Financial Support

• Reduce burdens on councils by reviewing sales, fees, charges and statutory duties

• Fully write off historic and accruing Dedicated Schools Grant deficits

• Ensure NHS budget pressures are not transferred to councils

• Fully fund adult social care workforce reforms, including the Fair Pay Agreement

• Set a clear timetable for local government reorganisation, without leaving councils to cover the costs