'Crisis' looming for councils threatening 'vital services' Lisa Nandy to say

Lisa Nandy’s calls for Government to reduce the challenges authorities are facing comes just one day after Cabinet Minister Michael Gove told the industry that local government is facing “formidable pressures” in coming months and promised “we will do everything that we can to support you through these challenging times”.

Speaking at the Local Government Association (LGA) conference in Harrogate today, Ms Nandy is expected to say: “We need an active government that doesn’t sit on its hands but seeks out unions and employers to square this circle together. We have just seen our railways grind to a halt while the Transport Secretary refused to lift a finger.

“So I say to Michael Gove – the country doesn’t need a Grant Shapps tribute act. Convene a meeting, without delay, with the explicit aim of reducing pressure on councils so they can maintain services and support the staff who are the beating heart that sustains them.”

Yesterday, Mr Gove told the meeting that he does not underestimate the challenges the economic situation is presenting to local authorities, and reiterated his belief in devolution as the key to helping communities emerge stronger.

“I appreciate that in the immediate months ahead local government faces formidable pressures,” he said.

“The accumulating demands on adult social care, the challenges facing children’s social care, the pressure to support children with special educational needs, the economies which inevitably affect non-statutory services, and additional expectations that we have in planning and housing.

“We will do everything that we can to support you through these challenging times.”

The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said he is determined to encourage devolution in all parts of England and added: “While I do not for a second underestimate the pressures that we will all face in the months ahead, they only reinforce my conviction that the way to emerge stronger and fairer as a nation over time is to further empower local communities to build resilience, to shape solutions to our problems, to innovate and to drive regeneration.”