This will impact on 7.5 million people in Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk and East and West Sussex.

In response, Cllr Richard Wright, Chair of the District Councils’ Network, said:

“Today’s decision to delay mayoral elections by two years is a backwards step that perpetuates England’s enduring power imbalance. It’s completely unacceptable that 28 million people living in non-metropolitan areas continue to be deprived of the mayoral devolution now given to all urban areas.

“If mayoral devolution isn’t taking place even in areas on the so-called ‘Devolution Priority Programme’, it’s clearly not much of priority.

“While we’re told the delayed mayoral elections will now take place in 2028, in an era of political instability and broken Government promises, the residents of many places will be left wondering if they’ll ever benefit from devolution.

“Ministers told us that the reorganisation of local government was necessary to bring about devolution. District councils have kept their side of the bargain by working flat-out to design innovative and bold plans to rethink local government and it’s totally out of order that the Government has failed to honour its promise in return.

“The fact that this announcement comes less than a week after around 100 district councils hit a Government-imposed deadline to submit reorganisation proposals, anticipating the prize of devolution as a result, adds to a sense of lost trust.”

Today’s provisional Local Government Finance Settlement reveals most of the 164 district councils, which represent 20 million people, are likely to get little or no real-terms rise in funding in 2025-26. Although district councils are promised a 0.3% cash increase, this is dependent upon council tax increases and does not reflect many of the rising costs councils face.

District councils – which provide many of the most visible local services including housing, waste collection, street cleaning, parks and leisure centres for 20 million people – have already faced a real-terms funding cut of 21% between 2010/11 and 2024/25.

They will be heavily dependent on the extra funding from the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging scheme, which is to be welcomed. However, this funding stream is designed to encourage manufacturers to shift to more environmentally-friendly packaging. If this goal succeeds, this funding source will substantially drop in the coming years.

DCN welcomes the 37% increase in the Homelessness Prevention Grant allocated to district councils. While this funding is a tangible boost to the work of councils facing the biggest growth in temporary accommodation costs, it is insufficient to strengthen all vital homelessness services. Councils need substantial extra funding to enhance their work to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place and to purchase more homes to house homeless families – both of which offer value for the taxpayer in the long run.

We also welcome the new Recovery Grant, which will benefit districts with severe financial problems, and the funding to help councils with increased National Insurance costs – but it is not yet clear whether this will be enough to fully cover councils’ costs especially where they have outsourced services.

The allocations announced today follow a policy statement earlier this month, which indicated there would be a shake-up in some of the funding streams upon which many district councils depend. Funding from the Rural Services Delivery Grant has been “repurposed” while the New Homes Bonus will be reformed beyond 2025-26. These changes could severely impact on the finances of many district councils.

In response to today’s Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, Cllr Jeremy Newmark, Finance Spokesperson for the District Councils’ Network, said:

“Today’s settlement means little or no increase in funding for some or many district councils.  There will inevitably be a knock-on impact on essential local services.

“District councils offer incredibly good value for money, with the total cost of providing our services amounting to an average of just £183 per resident. But, after 15 years of funding reductions, there are few if any cuts left to be made which will not lead to reductions in local services.

“We welcome today’s extra money for homelessness prevention. But we are concerned that overall the settlement does too little to help those district councils badly affected by the rise in homelessness and demand for expensive temporary accommodation – or to help councils end the scourge of homelessness once and for all.

“We are concerned that councils will be heavily dependent on funding from the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging scheme, which is designed to change manufacturers’ behaviour, rather than to be a central plank of councils’ funding. This is not sustainable. When packaging becomes more environmentally friendly – as it needs to – the danger is that funding for district councils withers.

“Rural councils, in particular, could be hit as funding is directed by the Government to more urban areas, inevitably impacting on the services received by rural communities. It costs more to provide services to sparsely populated areas and the funding system must continue to reflect this.

“The Government is bringing about radical changes in how councils are funded. This, coupled with the looming prospect of local government reorganisation, will lead to uncertainty for local council tax payers and service users. District councils will do what they can to protect their communities from turmoil. We’re keen to work with the Government to support our communities.

“We’re anxious to avoid cuts to essential local services as we seek to balance budgets but the fact is that for many communities some services will be cut – including those that create jobs, boost growth and prevent the need for expenditure in the NHS.”

The parliamentary event showcased the work of specific council projects to support communities, drive growth and prevent ill health or homelessness.

The reception was attended by two local government ministers: Jim McMahon and Baroness Sharon Taylor, as well as 150 councillors and officers from our member councils. The event was kindly supported by CCLA and Capita.

Mr McMahon said the councils in attendance gave him a real sense of being the “glue that holds places and public services together” in their area. He also urged member councils to “embrace devolution”.

DCN Chair Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen told attendees: “For 50 years all of you have ensured your communities have gone from strength to strength.”

On the subject of the forthcoming English devolution white paper, he said that local government’s “super-power” was the fact that it was local.

“For local government to stay successful we need to ensure that it remains local in its entirety,” Cllr Chapman-Allen said.

SAM CHAPMAN-ALLEN: Our departing members’ legacy will live on

MUST READS: Our round-up of media and policy highlights for district councils

LAWRENCE CONWAY: South Lakeland will be missed

NOTICEBOARD: Essential diary dates and opportunities for you and your council

DCN EXECUTIVE BOARD UPDATE: What our leaders discussed on 8 March

PLEASE SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER WIDELY ACROSS YOUR COUNCIL

Our departing members’ legacy will live on

As 17 districts are abolished, the Budget reminds us that the fight for localism continues

Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen, chairman, DCN

The recent mantra of the District Councils’ Network has focused on a single word: freedom. Although this month’s Budget didn’t offer freedom, it did provide potential routes by which it may one day be obtained.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced plans to sign more devolution deals, move the functions of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) into local government and to expand the local retention of business rates.

Unfortunately, the Chancellor offered no indication that district councils will be the recipients of these powers or have a leading role to play in the post-LEP landscape. In the case of business rates it is only the West Midlands and Greater Manchester which will be the current beneficiaries, as part of their enhanced devolution deals.

Let’s be clear, ‘taking back control’ is not a sentiment which is unique to our two biggest built-up areas outside London. It is equally felt across the English shires, in our market towns, our new towns, our cathedral cities, our rural areas and our coastal communities.

Our communities need devolution too, and it must not be a devolution that stops at a county town which for many places is remote – far from businesses, far from communities. If LEPs are disappearing, their powers should not be swallowed wholesale by counties; district councils offer a scale at which, to use one example, business engagement should best proceed. We are the closest to employers and we have a unique localised convening power. And with more devo deals in the offing, let us again remind ministers that no community will feel greater empowerment if it is hoarded by County Halls.

The Chancellor did offer some more immediate support. There was a much-needed extra £63m for public swimming pools (although this is a first step rather than a long-term solution), £400m to new levelling up partnerships and a call for evidence on the stymying effect of the Government’s nutrient neutrality policies on development.

We will work with the Government to make a success of these policies. But one thing is clear: district expertise must be embraced if the chancellor’s growth plan is to succeed.

District expertise has not always been embraced, as we will be reminded next week. Seventeen district councils will disappear to make way for new unitary authorities in Cumberland, Westmorland & Furness, North Yorkshire and Somerset.

We, of course, wish the new councils well. However, new county unitaries are a long, long way away from their communities. Our research with BritainThinks, published last month, demonstrated the trust that local communities place in their district councils.

Our local nature means we’re visible and approachable; our services are understood and appreciated. Giant super councils are remote and invisible.

I want to pay tribute to the tireless work of members and officers in all of the 17 districts disappearing. You have served your communities well through good times and bad; you have made an enormous contribution to both the DCN and local government more broadly.

These district councils are disappearing, but their fine legacy will be visible as their services, their innovations and the infrastructure they built live on.

MUST-READS and LISTENS Our roundup of the most important articles and broadcasts for districts

Prominent media coverage of DCN concerns about waste consistency reforms:

BBC: Bin collections: Plans to change recycling risks chaos, say councils

BBC Radio 4 Today Programme (starts at 2 hours 46mins): Cllr Sarah Nelmes interviewed on waste reform

Daily Mail: UK government’s plan for a ‘National Bin Service’ with SIX types of collection is unworkable ‘madness’, councils warn

Other issues:

LGC: DCN: Proposed planning fees increase a ‘vital step’ but concern about workloads

Paul Shevlin, Chief Executive, Craven DC, on local government reorganisation, in The MJ: This moment is bittersweet

Colin Copus, Emeritus Professor of Local Politics, De Montfort University, in LGC: Forget Oflog – local government needs an OfDevo

LGC: Leisure sector still faces ‘widespread closures’ despite extra funding

Cllr Bridget Smith, Leader, South Cambridgeshire DC, in the MJ: Why a four-day week works

Policy Exchange report on housebuilding and local growth – with foreword by District APPG Chair, Brandon Lewis MP: Homes for Growth

Localis and Housing & Finance Institute report on affordable housing: Public Rental Homes: Fresh perspectives

DCN press release on council tax increases with findings from DCN survey

Department for Levelling Up data on council tax levels set by local authorities in 2023-24: Council tax statistics

Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen, chairman, DCN, on the future of funding for district councils in Localis finance essay collection (Chapter 8): Moving Through the Gears

Northern Powerhouse Partnership report on fiscal devolution: a blueprint for devolving tax

Localis report on climate change and the planning system: Climate Resilience in Local Plans

Parliamentary debate: Ukrainian refugees and homelessness

Westminster Hall debate: Local Housing Allowance

South Lakeland will be missed

The disappearing district had a transformative impact

Lawrence Conway, chief executive, South Lakeland District Council

It’s been my privilege to serve as a district council chief executive at the heart of our community for the last 13 years. Sadly, my tenure ends next week when South Lakeland District Council is abolished to make way for the new Westmorland & Furness unitary council as part of the reorganisation of local government in Cumbria.

I view these changes with mixed emotions: whilst change can bring opportunity, for me it has been the district councils which have had the ultimate connection to their community. Parish councils have the proximity but unfortunately not the power to deliver the scale of change required in these challenging times; anything larger than a district is intrinsically more remote and potentially less well connected. It will be no surprise that the new single council will operate largely over three areas, not dissimilar to the old council geographies.

Our council, like our peers, will leave a legacy. I believe our transformative approach to service delivery is unique. It has taken bold leadership to devise a customer-focused delivery model which not only improves efficiency and effectiveness, but has also cut our costs.

The focus is on members of the public being at the heart of everything we do. South Lakeland’s model, similar to many already in existence in the private sector, means there are fewer phone calls, smaller back offices and officer time is freed up to prioritise the most demanding issues that give the biggest community benefit.

For our residents, their experience is better – the missed bin is collected sooner, there are fewer phone calls or follow-ups required; customer satisfaction levels are up; productivity and performance are up too. For our staff, they feel empowered to make a difference; they are proud that they are working more effectively and devoting more of their time to making a difference, and less on administration.

This has all resulted in a more agile and flexible council, which is better able to plan ahead and prioritise. The days of non-productive salami-slicing cuts have ended.

That said, the council has still faced its challenges, not least dealing with a number of natural events such as floods, Storm Desmond of 2015, in particular. The effects of such events are not overcome immediately and deeply affect communities for many years subsequently. Post-flooding, or storms, clean-up can take a year or more; One of Kendal’s replacement footbridges took eight years to reappear; our Town flood defence system is taking nine years to put in place. Every time it rains heavily, people still get nervous. I haven’t even the space to discuss Covid and its disruptive effect.

We have faced our setbacks and together created an environment and a place to live that is second to none. We couldn’t have done it without the support of our community over the past 49 years. To them, I say thank you.

I also wish to thank our democratically elected members for their bold leadership, which has been the catalyst for change; and our staff for appreciating why change was necessary and embracing it.

I’d also like to thank the DCN. They have been supportive to our membership and offered so many – including me – new opportunities.

Now I’m looking ahead to Westmorland & Furness taking on its statutory powers. The new council will be led by South Lakeland’s leader Cllr Jonathan Brook. They have the chance to create something new, an opportunity that should not pass by. If they put the customer at the heart of everything they do, the district legacy will live on.

NOTICEBOARD: Events, opportunities and information to help you

Ukraine webinars: The Department of Levelling Up is holding a series of webinars to highlight best practice on different aspects of support for Ukrainian refugees. The sessions cover: sponsor support on 30 March, employment support on 6 April and safeguarding on 13 April. We do not yet have the precise timings or joining details for the webinars. If your council is interested in attending any of the session, please email dcn@local.gov.uk

DCN Key messages workshops: DCN is running a short project to develop a set of key messages about the value that district councils deliver – these will underpin our comms, lobbying and research activity in the coming months. To gather views and evidence we are holding two online workshops on 30^th March (11am to 12.30pm) and 31^st March (11am to 12.30pm). The workshops are open to chief executives, strategic directors, heads of comms and councillors. If you’d like to take part, please email dcn@local.gov.uk

District comms group: DCN is looking for comms officers to participate in an informal comms group. To participate, please email nick.golding@local.gov.uk

Climate action scorecards Climate Emergency UK is undertaking an exercise to score councils on the strength of their action on climate change. Relevant staff and councillors should have received information on their council’s right to reply on its draft score. If your council hasn’t received this information, you are urged to click here to update contact details. Further information on the process can be found here.

DCN EXEC BOARD UPDATE What the DCN member board discussed on 8 March

The DCN Board discussed:

• Our finance and investment strategic priority
• Our health, housing and hardship strategic priority
• Influencing the design and implementation of the Office for Local Government (Oflog)
• Reflections and takeaways from the DCN annual conference
• Key messages for DCN campaigning in 2023

The Council is working with energy company E.ON to decarbonise two existing district heating networks and to support the large scale delivery of low carbon and zero carbon development.  This will be achieved through investing in an interconnector project.  This is essentially 7.5 kilometres of trunk heat main which will take recoverable heat from a business park and connect it to the district heating networks.  The council will own this asset and then buy and sell low carbon heat in bulk over a 25 year period.

What benefits will it deliver?

Investing in this type of asset is new territory for the council.  The business case has been approached on a triple bottom line basis. The project is expected to make an 8% return and save up to 17,000 tonnes of carbon per year.  The council has already committed to putting the half of the return in to creating a social fund to benefit local residents who are also district heating customers, for example, by supporting community infrastructure.

The rationale for the council investing in the project includes the following benefits:

Decarbonising existing networks and resolving a section 106 obligation

Enabling cost effective delivery of a large scale zero carbon development

Regulatory compliance (Future Homes standard)

Social, for example, addressing fuel poverty

Financial, for example, a steady, long term return on investment and social / community dividend.

Gateway 14 (G14) is a business, innovation, and logistics park. It is designated as one of three tax sites for Freeport East, providing 2.4 million square feet of accommodation for manufacturing, offices and research and development.  Mid Suffolk District Council set up a trading company in 2017 and has now acquired the whole site.

This landmark development, one of the largest in the East of England, will provide high specification sustainable buildings including electric vehicle charging, LED lighting, solar panels, smart energy systems and rainwater harvesting. High-quality landscaping, green corridors and nesting boxes will be introduced to support wildlife and ecology.  Accessibility through, and around, the development is also key, with significant walking and cycling routes integrated with access to public transport links and local amenities.

The benefits

At full scale, G14 will deliver £75 million to £250 million of Gross Value Added to the economy annually, 5,000 new jobs, a new Skills and Innovation Centre, and a return to Mid Suffolk District Council (as the shareholder) to reinvest in services.  All the business rates for this site will be retained locally for 25 years, ensuring a long-term supply of new jobs to the district.

Due to the strong focus on biodiversity and sustainability, the site will support wildlife and ecology and create a vibrant, attractive, and healthy working environment for employees and the local community to enjoy with approximately 25 acres of landscaping and amenity land.

The first unit on park (‘The Range’) will start construction in late January 2023 and will occupy a bespoke 1.2 million square feet high-specification distribution hub in 2024.  The receipts from this first phase of development will cover all the costs of acquiring the land and installing the park infrastructure. They will deliver a BREEAM Excellent building and 1,650 new jobs.  The new building will enable The Range to accelerate the opening of 150 new retail stores across the UK.

The council anticipates one of the next developments on site will be the delivery of a Skills and Innovation Centre. This will create the right ecosystem for skills and business innovation to flourish and meet the immediate and future skills needs of employers and employees in the local and wider sub-region. This will address gaps in provision and add value to the regional economy.

By setting up a company structure and working in partnership with private sector developers, the council has already recovered 80% of the funds invested.  Future receipts can be used to fund projects across the council for many years.  This partnership has enabled all the partners to work effectively together while developing skills to use for other council and private projects.

For example, council staff working on this project have increased their skills in commercial contract management, complex land transactions and taxation.  In addition, they have improved their financial planning skills for long-term master planning of both the physical works and the longer-term impacts of development holistically.  Bringing together the best elements of private and public sector and working to deliver significant results for communities.

What is the project?

The Housing Enablement Team (HET) places specialist housing professionals into in-patient settings, with the goal of assisting patients with housing issues, so that they can be safely discharged.

Dedicated housing officers based within the acute, community and mental health hospitals offer a bedside service that works inside and outside statutory duties and support flow.

HET covers a wide variety of housing issues such as homelessness, hoarding and eviction.

HET fulfils the requirement for hospitals to complete S.213B referrals for homeless cases brought in by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. Ensures that clinical staff do not have to do this. This service operates across Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland.  Dedicated housing officers are based in all the hospitals across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and will assist patients where housing is a barrier to discharge.

All health staff are aware of the service, and it is a key part of the discharge hub and the Home First Collaborative. Cases are referred to the team as soon as health staff become aware that there is a housing issue. For example East Midlands Ambulance Service may go to pick up a patient from a hoarded property to take them to hospital they would inform the HET so that work can be undertaken as soon as possible to clean & clear the property thus reducing any chance of a delay in discharge.

Alongside the staffing budget we hold funding to not only cover the cost of clean & clears but also to cover rent deposits and purchase household items or ensure they have some utilities on when they return home.

What benefits will it deliver?

This project has not only supported the NHS, it supports local authority housing teams across Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland and ensures the patient can return home as soon as they are medically fit to do so. It also supports TB patients and those with no recourse to public funds.

The District Councils’ Network supports the instigation of a ‘on-the-go’ Deposit Return Scheme as a way to further incentivise recycling and reduce littering.

As champions of our small businesses we would want further consideration given as to how a scheme impacts them, particularly if an ‘all-in’ model is chosen. We also believe that the impacts and knock-on effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have caused changes in consumer behaviour that should be taken into account when implementing a scheme.

DCN Response – Introducing a Deposit Return Scheme in England Wales and Northern Ireland

We welcome the proposals put forward, with some caveats, and take the opportunity to reflect on the ongoing serious challenges within local authority audit at present. The increasing level of complexity of the accounts, rising costs and fragile market mean that audit is a critical concern for district councils.

The allocation of £15m to support local authorities with the ongoing rising cost of audit is welcome but should not be a one-off; it should be made permanent. In a recent survey of our members for example, just under 90% of our 64 respondents reported that their external auditor had sought a variation to the PSAA scale fee resulting in an increased fee. And of those seeing an increase, over half were facing an increase of more than 20% – significantly higher in many cases. One recently reported example is of a district council facing a bill of over £90,000 for 2019-20 compared to £56,000 the previous year. This is clearly not a sustainable position.

Read our full response to the consultation: DCN consultation response – changes to the local audit appointing persons regulations 2015

Responding to the Chancellor’s announcement that a one-year Comprehensive Spending Review will take place at the end of November, Cllr Sharon Taylor, District Councils’ Network Lead Member for Sustainable Finance and Workforce, said:

“We are pleased the Government has signalled its intention to give vital public services enhanced support during the fight against coronavirus, which has created huge financial challenges for councils on top of the severe funding cuts they have faced in previous years.

“District councils have also been hardest hit by plummeting income caused by COVID-19.

“It is however disappointing to see a one-year rather than three-year settlement. It will also come too late for districts setting their budgets now, who will be doing so in the dark, with many almost certainly having to look to make further cuts.

“The Government needs to give councils long-term financial certainty and commit to fully compensating councils for costs relating to COVID-19 not just in 2020/21 but in the years ahead.

“District councils are crucial for driving an economic recovery in their strategic role delivering services such as planning and housing, and due to their intimate knowledge of local businesses and economies.

“This is why councils need a comprehensive multi-year settlement, which will enable them to continue tackling the most important frontline issues such as reducing homelessness, collecting waste, keeping leisure services running, and growing the local economy, throughout and beyond COVID-19.”

Read our full submission to the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Notes to editors

The District Councils’ Network (DCN) is a cross-party member led network providing a single voice to 187 district councils. District councils in England deliver 86 out of 137 essential local government services to over 22 million people – 40 per cent of the population – and cover 68 per cent of the country by area. They play a key role in local communities, providing services such as building homes, collecting waste, regenerating town centres, preventing homelessness, keeping streets clean and maintaining parks.

Ends