- the LGA White Paper and what it means for councils
On 7 June 2024 the Local Government Association ('LGA') published its Local Government White Paper. The White Paper was developed in consultation with over 200 council leaders and 150 chief executives on a cross-party basis and sets out the sector's priorities for change and the opportunities a new government has to take things forward.
With the three main political parties providing a scant offer lacking focus in respect of local government in their general election manifestos, the White Paper comes at the right time, and it is hoped this will set the framework for a revised relationship and genuine partnership between Westminster and councils across the country.
The five priorities set out in the White Paper are:
An equal, respectful partnership between local and national government – a genuine partnership model backed by statute, based on best international practice.
Sufficient and sustainable funding – with multi-year settlements and combined funding pots so that local services can develop and transform.
Backing local government as place leaders – with new powers to bring partners together to get services working better, drive inclusive growth and regulate failing markets.
A new focus on prevention and services for the wider community – joint action with the NHS to keep people well from birth to later life, alongside action on housing and homelessness.
Innovation and freedom from bureaucracy – ending bureaucratic reporting and exploiting the full potential of technology including AI.
Now is the ideal time to reset and reframe the role of local government. Council leaders and chief executives have regularly pondered what the role of local government is - are we a local safety net, the local delivery arm of central government, devolved mini-regions with policies and strategies bespoke to our communities, or something else entirely? With the prospects of a new government on 5 July, we can have the honest and frank conversations about the future vision and purpose of local government, as well as the support the sector will need to deliver.
The White Paper identifies three key opportunities to move this conversation forward:
New equal and respectful central-local partnership: the next government should establish a new partnership model for working with local government and delivering the recommendations set out in this paper.
Review of place-based public service reform: the next government should commission a major new review of how public services can work together to transform places, including through invest-to-save models of prevention.
Further improving cost-effectiveness and innovation: the next government should work with us to bring together learning across government departments on ‘what works’ to increase cost-effectiveness and innovation, enabling the development of cross-cutting solutions. We will support this by contributing learning from existing sector-led improvement support and best practice from local government.
The White Paper sets out the benefits and key offers of local government to Westminster - after all, we can't deliver inclusive growth without investment in transport infrastructure, tackling the housing crisis, and enhancing health and wellbeing across our communities. Councils are also uniquely place to deliver the change and innovation that will help Britain meet its climate obligations - if central government gives us the support and frameworks to deliver. Finding the solutions to the challenges our communities face requires long-term planning and focus - that's why the LGA is calling on the next government to ensure future growth funding cycles are allocated on a six-to-eight-year basis as consolidated pots for councils to invest according to local need.
While Labour and the Liberal Democrats have committed to multi-year settlements for local government in their manifestos, the Conservatives have only promised a multi-year settlement for social care. None of the parties has set out the detail of what it means by 'multi-year settlement', so the White Paper gives local government a clear position to start the conversation from and makes the case for why a medium to long-term settlement is beneficial to achieving the objectives of both central and local government.
Regard also needs to be had to the emerging data demonstrating productivity growth and gaps occur at a sub-regional, rather than national, level, and therefore the most effective way to tackle issues and drive growth is from a local, rather than centralised, position. We need a clear framework for the decentralisation of powers that will enable councils to enhance skills, opportunity and local economic growth. The White Paper rightly identifies that not all matters can, or should, be localised, highlighting in particular:
Macroeconomic stability.
Trade arrangements with other countries and blocks.
Nationally significant infrastructure.
Making and enforcing the rules on market engagement.
Minimum standards and quality of goods and services.
On housing, the White Paper identifies the challenge of supply, pressures on systems exacerbated by the cost of living crisis, immigration and increase in Section 21 evictions. There are 1.29m households on council waiting lists with a more than 90% increase in the number of households in temporary accommodation since 2014. The costs of temporary accommodation have increased drastically to £1.75bn across the sector, with a projected increase of 19.9% in 2023/2024. These costs are crippling council budgets, not least because the majority cannot be recouped as the subsidy for temporary accommodation remains frozen at 90% the 2011 Local Housing Allowance rate.
With budgets under extreme pressure, councils are forced into a reactive place, unable to plan for the long term or work on preventative strategies. The White Paper proposes short term measures that would provide immediate relief to councils:
Reform of Right to Buy to support 1:1 replacement of existing social housing to avoid continued net loss of stock. This should include allowing councils to retain 100 per cent of sales receipts; flexibility to combine receipts with other government grants; the ability to set the size of discounts locally; and exempting new build.
Abolition of permitted development rights and reform of viability assessments for proposed housing developments, with all planning applications required to deliver affordable housing requirements as per Local Plans.
Bring forward new legislation to ban Section 21 “no fault” evictions of renters.
Further investment in social housing by allowing local government continued access to preferential borrowing rates through the Public Works Loan Board for housing, with each additional £5 million provided through this scheme estimated to provide up to £150 million in savings and additional investment into social housing.
An increase in Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) grant levels per unit to deliver more new affordable homes and ensure inflationary pressures do not jeopardise continued delivery.
A commitment to uprate LHA rates to the 30th percentile of local rents beyond 2025/26.
An immediate increase in the subsidy for temporary accommodation, so that it is no longer frozen at 90 per cent of 2011 LHA rates.
The longer term asks focus on delivering the quality, sustainable homes we need for the future, strengthened Housing Revenue Accounts, five year Local Housing Deals for those areas that want them, a new Local Housing Advisory Service to increase capacity across the housing sector, and a cross-departmental homelessness strategy.
Robust asks to tackle the crisis in adult and children's social care services are set out. 63% of councils overspent on their adult social care budgets in 2022/2023 and children's social carer budgets are up 13.6% in 2023/2024 when compared to 2022/2023. The scale of the challenge is clear, and the consequences of failure regularly hit the headlines. Central to the support councils need in these area are workforce reform, preventative measures, and enhancing joint working and responsibility across health, education, and social care.
Overall, the White Paper provides a blueprint for the much needed reset of the relationship between central and local government that an incoming government would be well advised to pay heed to. It addresses key policy areas councils have been lobbying for change in for years, and provides the foundation for future research papers to support policy making. And the first order of business for councils on 5 July must be lobbying their new MPs to ensure the asks and objectives contained within the White Paper are taken forward.