Government finance settlement is ‘slap in the face for residents’, says Lewes District Council leader: increased fees and charges are ‘inevitable’

The local government finance settlement is the annual determination of funding to local government, which is approved by the House of Commons.

The council said that inflation, the cost of living crisis and temporary accommodation placements due to rising homelessness mean that councils across the country are struggling to balance their budgets.

Lewes District Council said that calls for additional support have increased but the Autumn Statement and finance settlement do not offer much ‘to address the widening gap in funding’.

Council leader Zoe Nicholson, said: “The government doesn’t appear to care that their chronic underfunding of local authorities is hitting vulnerable residents more than anyone else. We have done so much over recent years to help people through the Covid pandemic and the cost of living crisis, but our resources to continue this support are stretched like never before. While the finance settlement is the latest slap in the face for residents, I am determined that whatever measures we are forced to take, we will not cut frontline services.”

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Lewes District Council said it would set the budget, which includes the 2024/25 council tax in February, but said increases in fees and charges for discretionary services are ‘now inevitable’. They said the changes include the annual cost of collecting garden waste, which is now £70, increasing by £10 next year.

Councillor Nicholson said: "Any increase in prices is unwelcome, especially now. But we must prioritise our core services and ensure we can still find ways to help those in most need. Councillors from all political parties and all areas of the UK are saying the same thing, the current funding arrangements are not sustainable. The government appears intent on ripping the heart out of local services and unconcerned about the consequences their actions will ultimately have.”

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities released all the documents that relate to the provisional local government finance settlement for England in 2024 to 2025 on its website on Monday, December 18.