The Spending Review submission has been split across six categories that highlight where local government intend to act on.

The government has pledged to ‘level up’ the entire country and reiterated those promises during the Conservative Party Conference.

Local government will have to play a vital role in supporting communities to thrive.

The Spending Review priorities:

• Priority 1 – A strong and certain financial foundation
• Priority 2 – Adult social care and public health
• Priority 3 – Investing communities and tackling health inequalities
• Priority 4 – Reaching net zero
• Priority 5 – Education and children’s social care
• Priority 6 – Building back local economies

Commenting on the LGA submission, Purnima Tanuku OBE, chief exec of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said:

‘NDNA has been campaigning for years for funding rates to reflect actual costs for providers but it’s now clear that local authorities are also extremely concerned about this worsening situation.

‘We welcome the LGA’s submission and recommendation that there should be a significant increase in funding rates to allow nurseries to offer places to all children.

‘Our research and evidence clearly shows the impact of underfunding childcare places which results in struggling nurseries reducing the numbers of funded places they offer, increasing fees for additional hours, increasing charges to parents or sadly having to close their doors for good.

‘The worst affected nurseries tend to be those in areas of disadvantage where parents are less likely to pay for additional hours or send their child to nursery before they can receive entitlement funding.

‘The entire funding system needs urgent reform. NDNA has found significant underspends of early years entitlement money of £62m in 2109/20 which was used to offset other deficits or carried forward.  This is unacceptable. Local authorities must pass this on to the early years providers it was meant for. The government must look at our Childcare Passport suggestion in which all funding streams would be placed in each child’s online account.’