Latest news with #CountyCouncilsNetwork
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Almost a fifth of England's rural bus services disappeared in past five years
Almost a fifth of bus routes in rural areas of England have disappeared over the past five years despite government pledges to improve services, with county councils arguing they have lost out on bus funding to cities and towns. Rural areas have received about half the extra state funding per capita than that awarded to urban areas with more comprehensive services, according to analysis by the County Councils Network. The organisation, which represents local authorities in England's counties, said bus services in rural areas declined by 18% between 2019 and 2024, outstripping the wider fall across the country. The fall comes despite the apparent attempts by governments to tackle the decline of services outside London – including an initial £3bn 'bus back better' promise under Boris Johnson in 2021, although much of the funding was diverted to emergency Covid support for bus operators. An eventual total of £2.1bn in bus service improvement plan money from successive governments was allotted. However, county councils argue it was unevenly spread, with their residents receiving the equivalent of £31 a person, compared with £58 a person for urban authorities. The Labour government has also vowed to bring about better bus services, including legislation extending franchising powers nationwide to enable all local authorities to take buses under local control. Cllr Peter Thornton, a transport spokesperson for the County Councils Network, said they had been 'swimming against the tide with too much money going to urban and city areas where services are more frequent and modern'. He said: 'For the county areas that have seen half the money than the large towns and cities have received, or as much as eight times less in some instances, bus routes are down a fifth on pre-pandemic levels and this decline has not been halted since money first started being distributed in 2022. 'Yet there is a clear demand for county buses, and for many rural areas and smaller towns, they are a lifeline rather than a luxury.' He added: 'Reforms such as integrated transport budgets and bus franchising are useful but they tinker around the edges when what is really needed is more government funding.' Campaign for Better Transport, meanwhile, said an extra £1bn a year was needed for buses, with its own analysis claiming that four out of every 10 council wards across England and Wales do not have a 'reasonable' level of bus services. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Ben Plowden, the chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: 'Increasing access to local buses is one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways of reducing social exclusion, boosting local economies and building thriving communities. Investing an extra £1bn a year in our bus services – around half a per cent of the NHS budget – would have a huge social and economic benefit and would be great value for money for taxpayers.' A Department for Transport spokesperson said: 'Buses are a vital service for millions of people across the UK and we are keen to make sure they remain affordable. 'Our buses bill will introduce first-time protections for services in rural and deprived areas, and deliver on our commitment to improve living standards across the country.'
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What is council tax and how much did it go up in April?
Council tax bills rose rise for millions of households in England, Scotland and Wales on 1 April. Council finances are "extremely challenging" and there could be further cuts to services, the Local Government Association has warned. LIVE: Council tax and energy bills rise, but minister says minimum wage and pension increases will help Three ways to cushion the blow of bill rises Council tax is a compulsory charge on properties in England, Scotland and Wales. It is set by local authorities to raise money for providing services. Typically, anyone who is over 18 and owns or rents a home has to pay council tax. However, there are some exemptions and discounts. Someone living alone, for example, is entitled to a 25% reduction, and properties occupied only by students are exempt. Some discounts are available if you - or someone you live with - has a disability. Northern Ireland uses a domestic rates system instead of council tax. Most councils in England were expected to put bills up by the maximum amount allowed, the County Councils Network said. That's 4.99% (without triggering a referendum) for those with responsibility for social care. All but three of London's local authorities are putting up bills by 4.99%. Smaller councils without social care duties can increase bills by up to 2.99%. For 2025-26, the government is letting six areas introduce bigger rises. Bradford Council increased bills by 10% and they rose by 9% in Newham, and Windsor and Maidenhead. Birmingham, Somerset and Trafford put bills up by 7.5%. In April 2024, the average increase for a band D property in England was £106, which took the average bill to £2,171. The towns where you pay £300 more in council tax Council tax rates in Scotland had been frozen or had limited increases since 2007, but went up in April. Bills rose by at least 10% in 13 areas. The country's 32 councils had warned they faced a potential shortfall of £392m in 2025-26, which could rise to £780m the following year. The Scottish government says it is giving councils an extra £1bn in 2025-26 to help limit increases. Council tax rates in Wales increased by between 5% and 9.2% in April. Wales' 22 local authorities were given £253m in December's draft budget, but council leaders said more was needed. How much you pay depends on your property's council tax band. Broadly speaking, the more expensive the property, the higher the band. In England and Scotland, bands are based on the price the property would have sold for in 1991. Wales uses 2003 prices and Northern Ireland 2005 prices. You can check your home's band in: England and Wales Scotland Northern Ireland Council tax bills also include additional charges. One goes towards the cost of care homes and other adult social care services. Another is set by local police and fire authorities to help fund their work. Some cities with mayors, such as London and Manchester, can also add a separate charges for other services. Council tax funds local services, including: rubbish collection street lighting libraries police and fire services youth clubs parks and recreation facilities care services In 2023-24, 61% of council spending went on children's services and adult social care, up from 52% in 2013-14. About half of local authority funding comes from council tax, according to the Institute for Government (IFG). Councils in England can also raise money by charging for services including parking, swimming pools and planning applications. Most of the rest comes from a combination of business rates and central government grants. Labour has promised £2bn of central government funding for English councils in the year from April 2025, an extra £700m on top of the £1.3bn announced in October's Budget. But £515m of that has already been earmarked to pay for higher National Insurance (NI) contributions from April. Councils have also had to deal with inflation, higher energy costs and increases to the National Living Wage. The government is consulting on directing more money to deprived councils in England from 2026. When and where are the May local elections and who can vote? Councils cannot technically go bankrupt, but if they cannot balance their budget for the financial year, they can issue what is called a section 114 notice. This means they cannot commit to most new spending, and residents could see reduced services, such as fewer bin collections or cuts to libraries. Before 2018, only two councils had issued a section 114. Twelve have been issued since. Birmingham City Council went bust in 2023, with a £760m black hole. It followed Woking Council, Thurrock and Croydon (for the third time). A number of local authorities in England have not issued section 114 notices but are receiving so-called "exceptional financial support" to help manage their budgets. Middlesbrough Council is one of 19 authorities allowed to borrow money to fund day-to-day spending in 2024-25. Why do councils go bust and what happens when they do?
BBC News
24-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Lancashire councils revamp '£11m more a year to run'
A radical revamp of Lancashire's councils could end up creating a system that is £11m a year more expensive to run than the one it replaces, analysis has changes will see all 15 local authorities scrapped and replaced with a handful of new is projected to be a huge variation in set-up costs depending on how many new authorities are brought into being, with a total of four estimated to come with a bill of more than £ results of what the County Councils Network (CCN) research described as a "high level" financial assessment of the various possible scenarios were featured in a report presented to Lancashire County Council's cabinet. 'Transition costs' The research found the government-ordered overhaul would be cheaper to operate only if three or fewer replacement councils were established across the several of the existing authorities are known to favour the creation of four or even five new analysis predicted the establishment of four new councils would have a recurring additional annual cost of £11.5m after five years. In contrast, three new authorities were forecast to save £6.4m in running costs after five years, while two would generate savings of £21.2m and just one – for all 1.5 million Lancashire residents – would be £45.3m less costly than the current reason four or five new councils could end up costing more than the 15 existing ones is because they would each be standalone - or unitary - authorities, responsible for delivering all of the services in their the current "two-tier" system, Lancashire County Council looks after issues like social care, schools and highways across the vast majority of the county, while the 12 district authorities – Preston, South Ribble, Chorley, West Lancashire, Fylde, Wyre, Lancaster, Ribble Valley, Burnley, Hyndburn, Rossendale and Pendle – take care of the likes of planning applications, parks and waste collection in their own and Blackburn with Darwen councils are already unitaries and so provide the full range of local services in those areas. The CCN assessment also estimated the "transition costs" for establishing different numbers of new councils, with the total for four of them being almost double that for one – £41.3m, compared to £22.2m. Two would come in at £28.6m while three would cost £ county council report stressed that the establishment and running cost figures were derived from "detailed assumptions [that] have not been made available" – and so did "not represent a full and final financial analysis".The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was contacted for comment. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
19-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
Hereforshire Council spends nearly £6m on school taxis in a year
A council spent more than £5.8m on taking children to and from school last year - including £20,000 on one response to a Freedom of Information request, Herefordshire Council said the money was spent on taxis for a total of 496 children, 204 of whom - more than 40% - did not have special education needs and disabilities (SEND).Councils are obliged to offer free school transport to all children whose nearest school is more than three miles (4.8km) away, as well as SEND pupils.A council budget report earlier this year acknowledged "significant pressures" in both mainstream and SEND school transport in Herefordshire and nationally. Transport for the 204 children without SEND cost the council £1,236,465 over the year, averaging £6,061 per pupil. The most expensive individual contract was £20,710 to take a child to and from school - a 23-mile (37km) roundtrip - over the course of a appears the remaining 292 SEND pupils therefore cost the council £4,567,757 over the year, averaging £15,643 per most expensive taxi contract for a SEND child was not given. Increasing demand A County Councils Network (CCN) report in November cited the growing number of pupils with education, health and care plans (EHCPs), which has more than doubled in a decade, along with increases in more costly travel such as individual taxis and passenger assistants adding to the challenges faced by local projects that the cost of such "free" transport will reach £3.6bn a year nationally by Herefordshire budget report said the council "must manage increasing demand and cost pressures in transport services by identifying innovative strategies", including reducing reliance on such services, "employing digital technologies to consolidate routes", and investing in council-owned vehicles.A new operating model for transport services is due to come into effect from next month, it well as providing free transport to children whose nearest school is more than three miles (4.8km) away, it also provided to those whose school is more than two miles (3km) away if they're under eight or on free school is also available for children whose nearest school is oversubscribed and for children whose SEND or mobility issues mean they cannot walk there. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Guardian
09-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
English councils spending twice as much on Send pupil transport as fixing roads
Councils in England are spending on average twice as much on school transport for children with special educational needs than on maintaining their road networks, a Guardian investigation has found. Many councils have said their obligations under the wider special educational needs and disabilities (Send) system are financially unsustainable, with the rapid increase in pupil transport costs becoming a particular burden. Of 43 councils that replied to a Guardian request for data, all but eight were spending more on Send pupils' transport than on their so-called revenue roads budget, which is used for maintenance rather than capital improvements. On average, the amount spent on transport was slightly over twice as much, and in some cases notably more. One council, Wakefield, spends seven times as much on Send transport than road maintenance, with the ratio for several others being four or five to one. By law, councils must provide transport to Send pupils if they live more than a set distance from their nearest suitable school, with the great majority of these travelling by taxi rather than by bus. According to the County Councils Network, the number of students travelling has increased by a quarter since 2019 alone, with 31,000 going by taxi. This creates enormous costs, particularly in larger and more spread-out areas. Norfolk spent more than £40m on Send pupils' transport in the last financial year, with Hertfordshire spending £37m and three counties, Lincolnshire, Staffordshire and West Sussex, spending around £28m each. Councils say the rapid growth of the bill is in part the product of more and more parents securing an education, health and care plan (EHCP), which provides them with extra help and, in some cases, education in a non-mainstream school. 'EHCPs were meant to make the system less adversarial but it's done the opposite,' one council source said. 'People often fight very hard to get what they see as a golden ticket. It creates a tension between parents and carers acting perfectly rationally versus councils with a very finite pot of resources.' Another commonly cited issue is the school reforms introduced by the Conservative education secretary Michael Gove in 2014 – at about the same time the Send system was being revamped – under which schools are judged primarily on exam and test results, making them less likely to be inclusive. The Labour government is hoping its efforts to reverse some of this, with new Ofsted grades being based in part on inclusion, will help bring more Send pupils into their local schools, reducing the transport bills. But with the wider Send system in chaos – MPs routinely say that it is one of the most common reasons for constituents to contact them – many councils believe that this will also require more resources. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'The only way to deal with this is to put money into mainstream schools along with very clear accountability about what they should provide for Send pupils,' another council source said. 'But you can't just tell them to provide for Send pupils – you have to fund this and have the workforce for it.' A third said: 'There has been a change. Before the election there was a lot of buck-passing, and now the Department for Education is treating it seriously. But there is always a risk it ends up in the 'too difficult' pile.' A DfE spokesperson said: 'The Send system we've inherited has been failing to meet the needs of children and families for far too long, with a lack of early intervention and support in mainstream schools and unsustainable strain on local government finances.' Efforts to improve inclusivity in mainstream schools had involved £740m in capital funding this year, they added, with more significant reforms to be announced soon.
