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<p>As democratically elected organisations, local authorities are independent of central
government, and are responsible for managing their budgets in line with local priorities
and their legal duties.</p><p>Central government funding cannot in isolation provide
a true representation of local authority finances. The responsibilities, structure
and makeup of local authorities have changed significantly since 2010 and spending
power, formula grants and settlement funding assessments are not directly comparable
over this period. For example, with the introduction of the Business Rates Retention
Scheme, local authorities estimate they will keep around £2.4 billion in business
rates growth in 2018-19.</p><p>As announced in the Local Government Finance Settlement,
Core Spending Power is forecast to increase from £45.1 billion in 2018-19 to £46.4
billion in 2019-20. This is a cash-increase of 2.8 per cent and real-terms increase
in resources available to local authorities. In the long term, the Spending Review
will determine funding for local government from 2020-21 onwards and will enable us
to look at local government spending in the round.</p>
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