Fair Funding

After over a decade of austerity, in which the most deprived authorities faced devastating cuts alongside significant increases in demand, the Government launched the Fair Funding Review.

This fundamental reform of the local government finance system presented a long-overdue opportunity to restore the link between funding and need.

Seizing this vital opportunity, we launched "Towards a Fairer Future" in Parliament alongside MPs and Ministers. Crucially, our key asks were implemented in the reforms, such as:

• Deprivation to be a key factor in determining local authority funding 
• Fully accounting for how much an area can raise when determining grant funding (council tax equalisation)

Introduced in the 2025-26 settlement, the Recovery Grant delivered vital funding for the councils that suffered most from austerity. As the Government rightly said, “the recovery is not over”, and we were pleased that our asks for the continuation and uplift of this grant were delivered. 

These successes are key steps towards a fairer future for our members, and we will continue to ensure that the voices of our members are heard as we develop our manifesto.