SIGOMA Chair welcomes the final Local Government Finance Settlement

Posted on February 09, 2026

Following today’s publication of the final Local Government Settlement, we strongly welcome the changes the government has made to support many of the most deprived areas in the country.

The government’s Fair Funding Review is a vital opportunity to correct historic imbalances in council funding, and we are pleased that many long-awaited reforms that SIGOMA has campaigned for over the last decade are finally being delivered.

We strongly welcome the government’s decision to increase the Recovery Grant. Recovery Grant recipients represent some of the most deprived areas of the country: communities that were hit hardest by austerity and are least able to raise income through Council Tax. 

As the government has rightly said, ‘the recovery is not over’, and the boost to this vital funding means that the most deprived areas in the country can continue to rebuild. 

Our Chair, Cllr Sir Stephen Houghton, welcomed this news:

“We welcome the additional money being targeted to places with significant deprivation and needs.

“Increasing the Recovery Grant is something we have been asking for and it is pleasing ministers have responded to the case Sigoma has made so positively. It will ease the financial challenges our members face significantly.”

You can read the full article in The Times here.