The new Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has his work cut out. This is particularly the case where local government is concerned.
A recent white paper by the Local Government Association (LGA) revealed that councils in England face a funding gap of £6.2bn over the next two years, a gap driven mostly by rising cost and demand pressures on services such as adult social care, children's services, and homelessness support. These pressures are felt particularly acutely on the frontlines and have led to a dramatic reduction in universal services. A recent LGA survey found two thirds of councils have already had to make cutbacks to local neighbourhood services this year (2024/25) including waste collections, road repairs, library and leisure services. I don’t think it is too dramatic to say that Labour is inheriting a desperate situation.
What does the new government plan to do about it? Labour’s manifesto was ‘light on detail as well as cash’, in the words of Heather Jameson, editor of our sister magazine The MJ. But there were some positive signs for local government, ranging from a commitment to multi-year finance settlements, an overhaul of business rates and changes to the audit system to pledges to build a raft of new towns, deliver the biggest increase in house building in a generation and give combined authorities new planning powers. There was no sign of extra cash to help tide over the struggling sector, but these pledges are a start at least. Whether they will be met is another question.
In what we anticipate will be the first in a series of essay collections looking at local government under the new dispensation, we have gathered together five articles to provide a snapshot of some of the major issues Labour will have to address. From devolution and the housing crisis to children’s services and planning, our contributors have covered some of the most pressing areas of concern and set out what they believe should be done. Let’s hope the new government is up to the task.
To find out more about what local government stakeholders want from the new government, check out our guide, Transforming Local Government: A Strategic Guide for Labour. Download your complimentary copy now!
