How could the manifestos reshape local government?

What do the manifestos reveal about the future?

Despite a sustained lack of investment in local government services, only the Green Party has proposed definite funding increases.

There is cause for hope however as many of the parties are calling for an end to the current one-year settlement deals, replacing them with multi-year funding. Put forward by the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats, this change would enable long-term investment and sustainability, though how quickly it will be implemented will remain to be seen.

If the election returns MPs from several different parties, there are a number of new initiatives that may make their way to local government for delivery, including local buses, energy production, development, new housing and planning powers. However given the rising pressures and demands in the current system, new initiatives could be too much to take on. Local councils are able to rise to these new challenges, but a piecemeal approach is not the way to address the situation. A wholesale holistic look at what local government is here to do, and will need to do in the future, is needed.

For more information, contact Claire Ward.

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