Recommendation 19

Manchester City Council told us that government support has not fully mitigated the impact of the pandemic, and the average pressure on next year’s budget is £15 million across the 10 authorities in Greater Manchester and £32 million across the eight core cities.45 In written evidence, SIGOMA told us that despite government support, member councils would be “assessing the viability” of the services they provide in 2021–22.46 CIPFA noted that in the same financial year, council tax will rise by 4.3% on average, representing a funding gap of £217 million relative to the government’s assumption in the local government finance settlement.47 The Society of County Treasurers explained that “there will be real challenges across the country in balancing the budgets next year” and that it thought this would be “a combination of the use of reserves and having to make cuts in services”.48 An NAO survey found that 81% of respondents from district councils and 94% of respondents from single tier and county councils intended to make savings from service budgets in 2021–22.49 42 Committee of Public Accounts, Financial sustainability of local authorities, Fiftieth report of session 2017–19, HC 970, 4 July 2018 43 Committee of Public Accounts, Local government spending, Seventy-sixth report of session 2017–2019, HC 1775, 6 February 2019 44 Qq 84, 85, 132, 135–138 45 Q 9 46 LGF0007 submission from SIGOMA paragraph 3.6 47 Q13; LGF0010 submission from CIPFA paragraph 3.4 48 Q25 49 C&AG’s Report, para 4.24 COVID-19: Local government finance 17