Sustainable local government finance and liveable local areas: Can we survive to 2020?

Current spending by UK local government is now below the previous post-1979 low point. By 2020, the combined current and capital spending will be lower than at any time since before 1948. These are challenging times for our APSE member councils. Our latest APSE research, Sustainable local government finance and liveable local areas: Can we survive to 2020? produced in association with the New Policy Institute (NPI), identifies the picture of local government finance from now to 2020, and the impact of financial circumstances on local council frontline services. It also offers workable solutions and key recommendations for sustaining frontline services like waste, recycling, parks, street scene, highways and leisure. It finds that:-

• Council tax will account for at least half the money coming in to every kind of English local authority by 2020. For shire counties, it will account for three quarters.
• By 2020, revenue support grant will be mainly confined to metropolitan and unitary districts, and London boroughs. Shire counties (94% on average) and districts (85%) will be almost entirely reliant on council tax and business rates.
• A new dimension in how we fund local government service is opening up according to how strongly an authority can grow its business rate income. There is no link between the ability to raise income and the funding needs for local areas. We question how this will impact on liveability services.

This report is focused on helping local government understand the next few financial years. With this awareness, I hope that APSE can help our member local authorities to work towards preventing problematic financial issues in the next five years. As local government strives to become more self-reliant and self-sufficient we also argue the case for adequate funding, and investment, in our essential liveability services.

Download Research (pdf)