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Give local councils the support they need to help build back stronger
The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has written an article for the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) on the measures needed to let local (parish and town) councils continue to play a vital role for their communities during the pandemic.
NALC has proposed a package of measures to the government. It includes; business rates relief such as fast-tracking legislation to exempt public toilets, a further multi-year deal on council tax referendum principles, use of capital reserves and borrowing for revenue spending, repayment holidays from the Public Works Loan Board, and a dedicated COVID-19 interruption fund, to name but a few.
The government's plan to ensure the financial sustainability of local government must be a plan that includes the most local tier of local government, parish and town councils.
Almost all financial measures introduced by the government do not apply to local councils. They are not eligible for the dedicated government funding scheme, and funding provided to principal authorities aren't stretching far enough to be passed on.