Local Government East welcomes boost to affordable housing but warns of a lack of greater support for the region’s infrastructure and local government sector
LGE, alongside regional partners, have long called for a substantial increase in funding for social and affordable housing so today’s announcement of a 10-year, £39 billion investment and a 10-year social housing rent settlement from 2026 at Consumer Price Index + 1% is welcome news. This will boost housebuilding and relieve pressures created by homelessness, poor quality housing and overcrowding in the region but this will not be enough to fully address the scale of the issues. We must now also ensure that a fair proportion of this funding benefits the East of England.
Funding for Sizewell C was also announced which should create 10,000 direct jobs and benefit the regional economy. However, further support for the region’s infrastructure was not forthcoming. It is also very disappointing that funding was not announced for the desperately needed Ely and Haughley rail enhancement schemes. The update of Ely alone would allow an additional 2,900 freight services to operate to and from Felixstowe every year, removing almost 100,000 lorries off the road, while delivering an almost £5-to-£1 cost-benefit ratio.
Although an additional £3.4 billion in grant funding for councils nationally by 2028-29 will provide some relief, the local government sector’s financial troubles are greater and more immediate following previous real terms cuts, and this has not been recognised. Furthermore, the upcoming reform of how that funding is distributed must not adversely affect our councils in the East of England.
£555 million funding for children’s social care reform is to be welcomed and will hopefully, in time, improve outcomes for families. However, councils are currently facing a crisis of escalating costs and demand in children’s services. More support is required to meet these immediate challenges.
The Government is seemingly backing devolution in its announcement of £15.6 billion of capital funding for mayors to deliver transport projects. However, none of this money will come to the East of England. Our region has suffered decades of under investment in its transport network and today’s Spending Review has unfortunately kept to that pattern. The £2.3 billion increase in Local Transport Grants should achieve some improvements but will not facilitate our requirement for improved transport connectivity. Similarly, additional investment to progress East-West Rail is positive for connections from Oxford to Cambridge but more must be done to improve rail links further into our region.
Climate resilience is a hugely important topic for the East of England as the region most susceptible to the impacts of climate change in the UK. Therefore, we welcome the £2.7 billion on sustainable farming and nature recovery and £4.2 billion on flood defences.
As one of the region’s most important industrial sectors, the £600 million investment into life sciences via the new Health Data Research Service in Cambridge is a positive step forward. As is the announcement of a new £240 million Growth Mission Fund, with inclusion of a new Peterborough Sports Quarter. But we await more details of this fund and its criteria to understand to what extent this will truly deliver growth for the East of England.
LGE, alongside the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the East of England will be launching a refreshed version of our landmark ‘Opportunity East’ report at a Parliamentary Reception on September 9 to shine a light on the scale of the economic and housing growth potential of the region, and how greater support from the Government in the region’s infrastructure and skills can turbo charge the nation’s prosperity and deliver on the government’s housing targets.
Cllr Graham Butland, Chair of LGE and Conservative Leader of Braintree District Council, said: “Although there were some positive announcements today, we believe that the scale of opportunity in the East of England is still unrecognised with a lack of investment in our core infrastructure. I look forward to launching the refreshed ‘Opportunity East’ report this September which will shine a light on our significant potential and how investment from the Government will achieve substantial economic return and housing growth for the country.”
Cllr Stephen Robinson, Vice-Chair of LGE and Liberal Democrat Leader of Chelmsford City Council said: “The additional funding for councils’ core grants over the Spending Review period provides us with some relief but does not go all of the way to address our immediate pressures following years of real terms cuts. We await further details on the way in which this funding will be distributed to understand the true impact.”
Cllr Hazel Simmons, Vice-Chair of LGE and Labour Leader of Luton Borough Council said: “Investment in health with a record increase in NHS day-to-day spending of 3% for every year of the spending review is positive. The Government’s large investment in the delivery of social and affordable housing is also to be welcomed and something that we’ve long called for. We now need to ensure that a fair proportion of this supports housing in our region.”
