Councils will get an extra £1.6billion in funding to help in areas including social care, keeping schools open and bin collections as authorities are hit by revenue losses from parking fees during coronavirus
- Situation could cause some councils to ‘take extreme cost-cutting and rationing’
- Crisis has raised the pressure on services like support for those with disabilities
- Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick says extra money will boost councils
- Extra cash takes financial support to cope with the pandemic up to £3.2billion
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
Councils across England will be given an extra £1.6billion in funding to deal with the coronavirus after complaints from local authorities that services could suffer.
The Local Government Association has said the situation during the pandemic could cause some councils to ‘take extreme cost-cutting and rationing measures soon’.
The crisis has raised pressure on council services like support for those living with disabilities and social care, while income from areas like parking fees has dropped.
Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick speaks at Downing Street on March 29
Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick said the extra money will boost the backing councils have received to cope with the pandemic to £3.2billion.
An extra £300million will go to devolved administrations, with Scotland getting £155million, Wales £95million, and Northern Ireland £50million.
Mr Jenrick said: ‘I promised local government would have the resources they need to meet this challenge.
‘We stand shoulder to shoulder with local government and my priority is to make sure they are supported so they can continue to support their communities through this challenging time.
‘Up and down the country council workers are the unsung heroes as we tackle this virus. They are in the front line of the national effort to keep the public safe and deliver the services people need.’
In a letter to Mr Jenrick before the extra funding was announced, the LGA said ‘radical action’ to prevent councils ‘rationing spending’ was needed
The organisation said that unless more funding was received, the situation would end up ‘harming both the long-term continuity of existing services and the Covid-19 response at a time when both are so vitally needed, something we all wish to avoid’.
The letter also stressed the loss of income being generated by councils.
It said: ‘Local authorities are suffering severe income loss from a range of services from leisure, parking, bus operations, planning and commercial waste.
‘Many councils rely heavily on this income to fund their annual expenditure – on average, 10 per cent of total gross service costs are funded through fees and charges, going up to 25 per cent on average for shire districts in particular.’