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Solace Business Partner, Grant Thornton has advised that local authorities face an uncertain 2021, according to their new financial foresight report, produced in collaboration with CIPFA. Phil Woolley and Jeffrey Matsu from CIPFA look at the current circumstances and how local councils can prepare for the future.

Approaching six months into lockdown, local authorities have moved from the initial emergency response phase to focusing on recovery planning. This runs in parallel with the ongoing pandemic response, such as supporting vulnerable people and managing the capacity challenge of delivering business-as-usual.

The government has confirmed three tranches of funding to support the impact of increased spend and reduced income directly attributed to the COVID-19 lockdown, and are in the process of confirming further support via the income compensation scheme.

Local authorities’ finances remain significantly impacted and the Grant Thornton financial foresight model indicates that UK local authorities have a funding gap of £1.9 billion this financial year, rising to over £10 billion in 2021/22.

You can read more here:  https://www.grantthornton.co.uk/en/insights/how-local-authorities-can-prepare-for-coming-challenges/