Councils fear shake-up won't improve finances, survey suggests
Councils have been under financial pressure for some time.A recent report by the National Audit Office found funding had failed to keep pace with growing demand for services - particularly social care, support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and temporary accommodation.The government has increased the amount of money available to councils, and has promised to reform the way their funding works.The government says the reorganisation will streamline and simplify services, make savings and create structures that will allow more powers to be handed down to council leaders and mayors.But in some areas the plans have proved controversial.
Short-term pressure
A survey of council leaders and senior officials, carried out by the LGIU, found many thought the plans were unclear, the timescales were not achievable and while the plans might produce long-term savings, they would add to pressure on councils in the short-term.Only 23% of those surveyed agreed with the statement that the reorganisation would alleviate the financial challenges facing councils.The survey received responses from 150 councils out of 317 in England.The think tank's chief executive, Jonathan Carr-West, said: "On the one hand, the government has had some success in resetting the central-local relationship and there is near consensus that the promised multi-year settlements will benefit council finances."Conversely, many councils are anticipating that reorganisation and the increase in National Insurance Contributions will heap added pressure onto already overextended council budgets."The LGIU said the problems were not "insurmountable", calling for councils to be more involved and more "manageable" timescales.
The restructuring of local councils started in some places under the last Conservative government, with Labour planning to extend it across all of England.It would mean areas with two-tiers of councils, both county and district, would be replaced with single "unitary" councils that provide all services, with more regional mayors.Last month the government agreed to delay local elections that were due to take place in May in nine council areas to allow them to reorganise.For some, it's a welcome move that will make help councils deliver services more effectively.Tim Oliver, chairman of County Councils Network, which represents larger local authorities in England, said: "Financial pressures, coupled with the structural weaknesses and the public's confusion of the multi-tier system, means that it has become impossible to justify."The government's timelines for proposals for change are ambitious, but county councils and their partners are working hard to match these and deliver forward-looking proposals for new unitary councils."Others – including the District Councils' Network, which represents smaller authorities – have warned it would create a period of "turmoil".While there's some disagreement about the government's plans to reshape local councils, many across the sector say the bigger challenge is addressing the underlying financial pressures they face.For the financial year from April, 30 councils have been given "exceptional financial support" to help them balance the books, with many councils planning on increasing council tax and cutting services.A government spokesperson said it is making £69bn of funding available to councils across England - which includes council tax rises."This government inherited a crumbling local government sector," the spokesperson said."We are prepared to take tough choices necessary to rebuild local government and give taxpayers the services they deserve."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Russia must 'expand nuclear shield' over 'colossal threats' in chilling warning
Alexei Likhachev, the chief of Russia's state atomic energy agency, has said the "colossal threats" Russia is facing means it must improve its nuclear capabilities in the coming years The chief of Russia's state atomic energy agency has claimed the Kremlin must improve its nuclear shield due to the 'colossal threats' it is facing. Rosatom director Alexei Likhachev told RIA, the Russian state news agency, that the 'current geopolitical situation' is 'a time of colossal threats to the existence of our country'. Arguing that Russia 's nuclear shield is 'also a sword', he said it 'must only be improved in the coming years', but did not detail how this could be achieved. It comes as a number of Western militaries bolster their air defences and improve their own missile arsenals. Russia already has the largest arsenal of nukes anywhere in the world, with an estimated 4,380 operational weapons. It has repeatedly been accused of sabre-rattling, particularly since the war in Ukraine was escalated by Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion in February 2022. On the 1,000th day of the war Putin lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons by signing a revised nuclear doctrine declaring that a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country. Earlier this month, Russia said it 'no longer has any limitations' over nuclear missile deployment and declared it no longer considers itself bound by a self-imposed moratorium on the positioning of nuclear-capable intermediate range missiles. The Russian Foreign Ministry linked the decision to efforts by the West to develop intermediate range weapons and preparations for their deployment in Europe and other parts of the world. It specifically cited US plans to deploy Typhoon and Dark Eagle missiles in Germany starting next year. Intermediate-range missiles can fly between 310 to 3,400 miles. Such land-based weapons were banned under the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Trump withdrew from the pact in his first term, citing Russian violations, which Moscow denied. It, in turn, alleged the US had committed violations. The treaty was terminated in 2019, but the Kremlin declared its self-imposed moratorium on their deployment until the US makes such a move. The collapse of the INF Treaty has stoked fears of a replay of a Cold War-era European missile crisis, when the US and the Soviet Union both deployed intermediate-range missiles on the continent in the 1980s. Putin has previously announced that Moscow was planning to deploy its new Oreshnik missiles on the territory of its neighbour and ally Belarus later this year. It comes as NATO allies attempt In May, US President Donald Trump announced ambitious plans to build a 'Golden Dome' missile defence shield over the United States. 'We want to build a 'golden dome' to protect our skies. We will build the F-47 fighter jet and develop the F-35 fighters,' Trump said speaking to US troops inside a hangar at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The proposed shield draws on Israel's Iron Dome system, but Jeffrey Lewis, a missile defence expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, said such a plan could not be 'scaled up without major technological and logistical changes'.
Scotsman
4 hours ago
- Scotsman
British troops could uphold a ceasefire in Ukraine and keep Europe safe - Alex Cole-Hamilton
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Picture: Carl Court/PA Wire Over Easter this year, at an army base in the forests of Western Ukraine I met a Greek Orthodox Chaplain named Father Taras. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... He has served for 10 years on the eastern front since Russia's initial incursion into Eastern Ukraine and as a man of God, he has never carried a gun. I asked him if many soldiers at the front attended his services, to which he replied, 'Not really, mostly they just want me to hear their confession, because they think they're going to die.' Such is the weary resignation of the armed forces of Ukraine. They are prepared to hold out to the last so that they might preserve the freedom and the territorial integrity of the country that they love. They are fighting for all of us. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad On Monday, I watched Volodymyr Zelensky's artful redux of his Oval Office meeting with Donald Trump. Considering the outrageous way in which he was treated the last time he was given an audience there, he handled himself impeccably. On the horizon, however, is the prospect of a meeting less palatable even than the bullies of the Oval Office. A trilateral sit down with Trump and Vladimir Putin himself. So far Zelensky has greeted that possibility with real poise, but the prospect of being forced to shake hands and sit down with the Butcher of Bucha and Irpin, the man in whose name countless battlefield atrocities have been committed, nightly air raids on civilian targets have been perpetrated and in whose name thousands of Ukrainian children were kidnapped, must be utterly repellent. But if military victory is beyond reach for either side, then this can only be ended through diplomacy. And by necessity, such meetings must take place. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The challenge of finding a deal that is agreeable to each party in terms of where the new Russia-Ukraine border should lie, the prisoner exchanges, the return of kidnapped children, is astronomical. It is when it comes to the maintenance of a just and lasting peace that Britain's role really matters. Ukraine was given security assurances by the West in 1994 when it first became an independent state and was beseeched by the international community to give up its stockpile of nuclear weapons. Those assurances turned to ash on the morning of 24th February 2022 when Russia launched its full scale assault. Zelensky and the Ukrainians can only be expected to stop fighting with a new kind of guarantee. One such proposal would be for a "Coalition of the Willing", made up of Ukraine's allies, to send troops to be garrisoned on the Ukrainian border to uphold the new frontier. This is a long way from sending troops into battle against Russia - the Ukrainians have done an excellent job of that without us - but it would involve us playing a role in keeping the peace, locking in the support of international allies and ensuring that Putin is not minded to chance his arm again. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad All of this feels like a tall order, but given that Ukraine managing to reclaim all its lost territory on the battlefield seems a long shot, it appears that some kind of compromise may regrettably be where we end up. I'm not giving up on outright victory for Ukraine, I would dearly like to see both the EU and America use their full economic might to bring Putin to heel, but short of that, and to secure a reprieve for Father Taras and the brave soldiers of Ukraine, any kind of settlement must be underwritten with the military protection of Britain and her allies.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Moscow casts doubt over peace talks after bombing US factory in new wave of strikes
Russia 's foreign minister has cast fresh doubt on peace talks, questioning 'the legitimacy' of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to sign any future agreements after targetting a US factory in a large bombardment on Ukraine. Sergei Lavrov affirmed to reporters that Putin had 'repeatedly said he is ready to meet, including with Mr. Zelensky,' caveating that they wanted to resolve 'the issue of legitimacy' on 'the Ukrainian side' when it comes to signing agreements. Moscow has repeatedly questioned Zelensky legitimacy as his term in office was due to expire in May 2024. It comes as Zelensky cast doubt over Moscow's intentions for peace after launching 574 drones and 40 missiles at Ukraine, hitting a US electronics manufacturer in west Ukraine, which he said was 'very telling.' 'The Russians carried out this strike as if nothing is changing at all. As if there are no efforts from the world to stop this war.' Zelensky has said that Kyiv wants an understanding of security guarantees in the next week, before bilateral and trilateral leaders meetings can take place, as he warned that if Russia was not willing to sit down for a meeting, he wanted a 'strong reaction' from the United States. Belarus says it is looking at how to arm its missile systems with nuclear warheads Belarus is assessing how best to ramp up domestic production of missiles, including exploring how to equip its Polonez rocket launcher systems with nuclear warheads, a senior Belarusian security official said on Thursday. Belarus, a close ally of Russia, said this week it would deepen bilateral ties with Iran, and has also cooperated with China on weapons development. It does not possess its own nuclear weapons but hosts Russian tactical ones which remain under Moscow's control. President Alexander Lukashenko, who has led Belarus since 1994, told officials at a meeting on weapons manufacturing on Thursday that Minsk needs to modernise and develop its missile production. "The dynamics of military threats and the significant increase in military spending by our western neighbours force us to constantly pay close attention to the issue of the defence capabilities of Belarus, Russia, and our Union," Lukashenko was quoted as saying by state media. Bryony Gooch21 August 2025 13:45 Lithuania declares no-fly zone by Belarus border in response to drone incursions Lithuania has established a no-fly zone near its border with Belarus until October 1 in response to drones entering from there, NATO member Lithuania's defence ministry said on Thursday. "This was done with regard to the security situation and the threats to society, including risks to civil aviation due to airspace violations by unpiloted aircraft," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The no-fly zone will give Lithuania's armed forces more time to react to airspace violations, the spokesperson said without specifying the exact location or size of the restricted area along the 679-kilometer (422 miles) border. The decision comes after Polish officials reported on Wednesday that a Russian drone had crashed in a field in eastern Poland, an incident the country's defence minister described as a provocation. In July, an unmanned aircraft built from plywood and foam flew into Lithuania from Belarus and crashed, causing alarm before authorities determined it was not dangerous. Bryony Gooch21 August 2025 13:30 Watch: Russian foreign minister warns West over excluding Moscow from security discussions Bryony Gooch21 August 2025 13:15 Inside the Ukrainian factory building drones and cruise missiles to strike Russia Inside the Ukrainian firm building drones to strike Russia With limited military assistance from Western allies, Ukraine has fast become a global center for defense innovation Bryony Gooch21 August 2025 13:00 Russia's Lavrov says some issues will have to be worked out before Putin and Zelenskiy can meet Russian president Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said he is ready to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, but there are some issues that need to be resolved before such a meeting could happen, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said. Putin has questioned the legitimacy of Zelensky due to the postponement of elections in Ukraine due to the war. Lavrov said the legitimacy issue would have to be resolved before Moscow could sign any document with Kyiv. Bryony Gooch21 August 2025 12:50 Italy arrests Ukrainian man suspected of coordinating Nord Stream pipeline attacks Italian police have arrested a Ukrainian man suspected of coordinating the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines, Germany's prosecutor general said on Thursday, adding that he would be brought before a German judge after being transferred. Seen by both Russia and the West as an act of sabotage, no one has ever taken responsibility for explosions that severely damaged pipelines carrying gas from Russia to Europe in September 2022, which marked a major escalation in the Ukraine conflict and ramped up an energy supply crisis on the continent. The suspect, identified only as Serhii K. under German privacy laws, was part of a group of people who planted devices on the pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in September 2022, a statement from the prosecutor's office said. He and his accomplices had set off from Rostock on Germany's north-eastern coast in a sailing yacht to carry out the attack, it said, adding that the vessel had been rented from a German company with the help of forged identity documents via middlemen. Authorities acted on a European arrest warrant for the suspect, who faces charges of collusion to cause an explosion, anti-constitutional sabotage and destruction of buildings. Carabinieri officers arrested him overnight in the province of Rimini on Italy's Adriatic coast, the German prosecutors' statement said. Bryony Gooch21 August 2025 12:40 Lavrov accuses Europe of trying to undermine progress made in Alaska Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has accused European leaders of trying to undermine progress which he said had been made at last week's U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska on a possible peace deal in Ukraine. Speaking of the Coalition of the Willing, he said Kyiv's European allies were trying to shift the focus away from resolving what Russia calls the "root causes" of the war. "I hope such European adventurism fails," he said. He also reiterated Russian concerns about the way the European discussion on security guarantees for Ukraine was being conducted without Moscow's input. Any ideas which departed from those set out by Russia in talks with Ukraine in Istanbul in 2022 were hopeless, he said. Bryony Gooch21 August 2025 12:28 'Putin wants us to panic': How Russia has amped up its aerial strikes on Ukraine As Russia launches yet another large aerial strike on Ukraine, here we look at the strategy behind the country's approach to these attacks - and why they aren't increasing the volume of missiles and drones every single day. 'Putin wants us to panic': How Russia has amped up its aerial strikes on Ukraine The Russian army launched a fresh drone assault on Kyiv overnight, following a pattern of attacks in the past two months Bryony Gooch21 August 2025 12:20 Recap watch: Russia's drone strikes spark huge fire at energy facility in Ukraine Bryony Gooch21 August 2025 12:00 Where could Putin and Zelensky meet for Ukraine war summit? Bryony Gooch21 August 2025 11:38
