Services to Local Government

“Health is made at home, hospitals are for repairs”, says former NHS chief Lord Crisp. COVID-19 has focused minds on the importance of ‘place’ – the homes, neighbourhoods and communities that we live in.

In November, the Chancellor announced a new £4bn ‘Levelling Up’ Fund designed to improve local infrastructure in towns and areas in desperate need of investment. It’s anticipated that up to £20m will be assigned for each local project.

In May 2021, the English local elections will go ahead as planned, with extra funding provided to ensure that voters, candidates and staff will be adequately protected.

The long commute to and from the office for many is a thing of the past as Covid-19 has forced us to live, work and shop local. This will result in profound and permanent lifestyles changes, accelerating shifts to a 20-minute neighbourhood model, and as a result, place more emphasis and also more strain, on local government services.