Is austerity over? The 2020 Spending Review and the outlook for local government funding

In this presentation given the at the Local Government's Winter Finance Conference on 6th January 2020, David Phillips looks at the outlook for local government funding, arguing that unless current plans are topped up, local government could face a renewed funding squeeze from 2021-22 onwards. He also highlights a number of options for addressing the likely funding shortfall, emphasising how the attractiveness of different options depends on the extent to which local discretion and accountability versus national standards and solidarity are prioritised.