According to the Local Government Association, between March and June, councils have incurred £4.8 billion of extra cost pressures and income losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The estimated financial challenge councils face as a result of the pandemic will reach £10.9 billion.  

There is no area of local government that has not been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Councils are doing remarkable work to address COVID-19 including pooling resources, responding to new problems and coming up with creative solutions.

On 22nd September 2020, the Prime Minister announced that £60 million would be made available across the police and local authorities for compliance and enforcement activities. This includes the deployment of COVID-19 secure marshals to support compliance.  

In October 2020, the Government announced that it would be allocating an additional £1 billion funding for councils, bringing the overall funding given directly to councils during the pandemic so far to £6.4 billion.

This national event will give a key understanding of what the future is looking like for Local Government and the impact of the pandemic on resources and functionality. It will cover vital issues such as leadership, funding, new operating models, commercialism and sustainability.