On 24 February 2025, local government practitioners met to discuss key issues affecting council funding and regulatory practices. The session was moderated by Malcolm Gardner and featured contributions from experts including Tom Clark, Kim Larkin, Naomi Armstrong, kevin Stewart, Robert Fox, and Wagstaff Bob, among others.
Key Discussion Points
Local Authority Enforcement Forum
Tom Clark provided an update on the local authority enforcement forum, known as “LAEF.” He outlined its origins and its evolution into a network of nearly 1,000 practitioners. The forum now focuses on practitioner-level matters, offering technical discussions on topics such as fraud, housing benefits, and enforcement practices. An upcoming conference in Brighton is on 14 May you can book here.
Supported Housing Regulations Consultation
Kim Larkin highlighted the recent launch of a consultation on supported housing regulations. The consultation addresses not only the licensing regime but also proposes significant changes to housing benefit practices. Kim and Malcolm stressed the importance of broad participation—from Visionary network members, benefits directory members and other stakeholders—in the consultation process and announced a meeting scheduled for 27 March to discuss these issues further. For further information contact Kim Larkin.
Council Tax Funding and Its Challenges
Council tax was a major focus of the discussion. Key points raised include:
• Regressivity and Disparities: Participants noted that council tax remains regressive, with the poorest 20% of households spending over three times more of their income on council tax compared to the richest 20%. This disparity is compounded by the fact that council tax has increasingly become the primary revenue source for local authorities amid declining central government grants.
• Funding Model and Redistribution: Several speakers, including Kevin Stewart and Robert Fox, discussed the limitations of the current funding model. The model’s design forces councils to rely heavily on council tax, which has shifted from a means to fund specific services to a general revenue tool. Wagstaff Bob and Tom Clark proposed that a redistributive approach, possibly modelled on the business rates system or a property tax collected by HMRC, might address these imbalances more effectively.
• Impact of Local Government Reorganisation: There was agreement that any reorganisation of local government structures could provide an opportunity to re-evaluate how council tax is collected and redistributed. However, participants stressed that the redistribution mechanism would need to take account of differing regional needs and service demands.
Accountability in Local Government
The meeting concluded with a discussion on accountability measures for elected officials. Malcolm Gardner noted that a councillor had resigned after accruing nearly £4,000 in unpaid council tax arrears over three years. This incident underscored the importance of financial accountability among local politicians and the need for robust monitoring mechanisms.
Conclusion
The discussion provided a clear factual overview of the challenges facing local authorities today. The key issues identified were the evolving nature of council tax funding, the need for a reformed and possibly redistributive funding model, and the importance of effective consultation on housing regulations. The session underscored the necessity for precise data and targeted policy responses to address these systemic challenges.
The recording can be found at https://tinyurl.com/VNR250224.