There is a warning that Council Tax increases of 16 per cent could be needed next year if central government grants are frozen. The Director of the New Local Government Network, Chris Leslie says the less than two per cent increases for the coming year have been made possible by the ‘generous increase’ in grant which could be the last for five years.

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Councils with responsibilities for adult social care are to get an extra twenty-thousand pounds each to update their Extra Care housing strategies. The Care Services Minister, Phil Hope, said he wanted older people who needed care and support to benefit from new and refreshed local housing strategies promoting dignity, respect and choice.

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Across the country pioneering project teams have found out how public money is spent in their area and then looked in detail at how services could be improved at a lower cost. The new approach of focusing on what happens in a place across all public service boundaries and then getting together to find better ways of doing things has been proved beyond doubt. This has not been easy, but the greater challenge lies ahead. People in Whitehall and town halls together with colleagues in the health service, the police and other public bodies have to find ways to take forward the idea of Total Place.

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