Third Report - Financial distress in local authorities

The government agrees on the urgency of children's social care reform and has announced £1.5 billion in additional grant funding for social care for 2024-25, including a recent £500 million uplift. It also committed £165 million over four years to expand children's home capacity and is exploring ways to combat profiteering.

The government commits to supporting greater collaboration among local authorities for collectively delivering care services, citing ongoing co-design work and the Regional Care Cooperative pathfinder programme. It also provided capital funding to increase local authority provision and will publish proposals to combat profiteering later this year.

The government has recognized the pressures in adult social care, making available up to £8.6 billion of additional funding over two years, including over £1.5 billion in new grants for 2024-25, to support local authorities in delivering social care.

The government states it is already working to provide clarity and support to local authorities through existing programmes like Safety Valve and Delivering Better Value in SEND. These programmes involve bespoke support, individualised local plans, and around £1 billion in additional funding to help authorities sustainably manage their high needs systems and eliminate DSG deficits.

The government states existing statutory guidance already empowers local authorities to make suitable travel arrangements and avoid expensive individual transport. It outlines the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan and investment in new provision that aims to reduce home-to-school travel costs over time, but does not commit to additional short-term funding or new statutory guidance.

The government outlines its ongoing commitment to extensive system-wide social care reform, citing the People at the Heart of Care white paper, £700 million investment for adult social care, new CQC assessments, and £200 million for children's social care reforms through Pathfinders.

The government states it completed a review in 2021 and passed the Non-Domestic Rating Act 2023. It will not reset the business rates retention system before 2025-26, but agrees to consider further improvements in the next Parliament.

The government agrees on the urgency of children's social care reform and has provided £1.5 billion in additional grant for social care for 2024-25, including a recent £500 million uplift. It also committed £165 million over four years to expand children's home capacity and is exploring ways to combat profiteering.

The government details significant additional funding of up to £8.6 billion over two years and £1.5 billion in grant increases for 2024-25 for adult social care, arguing this addresses the pressures and enables local authorities to improve services.

The government agrees on the importance of tackling SEND provision costs, highlighting a 60% rise in the high needs budget to £10.5 billion by 2024-25, and detailing support programmes like Safety Valve and Delivering Better Value with £1 billion in additional funding to help local authorities manage deficits.

The government acknowledges the concern about funding mismatches but states it is already addressing the issue through significant increases to the high needs budget, existing Safety Valve and Delivering Better Value in SEND programmes with additional funding, and published guidance.

The government highlights its existing efforts, including the SEND Green Paper and Improvement Plan, which aim to establish a single national system, implicitly addressing concerns about sufficiency and timing, and stating a further review is unnecessary.

The government acknowledges the importance of stable housing, confirms the £1.2 billion investment to increase LHA rates to the 30th percentile from April 2024, and commits to annual reviews of LHA rates. It also highlights ongoing funding for Discretionary Housing Payments and wider affordable housing programmes.