Lisa Nandy MP: Labour’s new year resolution to fund local councils fairly

After 14 years of Tory austerity, Labour is putting money back into our local services and this funding boost will make a real difference to people’s everyday lives by supporting and improving the services we all rely on. It means more money for our high streets, our libraries, our roads and for cleaner streets.

Under the Tories, local authorities were starved of investment with core spending power down by around a quarter since 2010. That put immense pressure on councils up and down the country, with our own budget here in Wigan being cut by over £3 million under the Conservatives.

But this Labour Government has announced a radical overhaul of how local government is funded by reversing former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s cheap political efforts to put money into wealthy shires and Tory seats.

Fair funding is the next step on Labour’s journey to reverse a decade and a half of austerity and decline under the Conservatives and to build stronger communities.

With Labour, England’s councils will get £4.7 billion for schools and support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, £1 billion in funding to tackle homelessness, and a total of £5 billion targeted funding from the Pride in Place scheme, which will benefit many communities in Wigan.

The funding injection is aimed at restoring pride and opportunity in places that have been left behind, to get back what has been lost. Councils will have more resources available to protect the assets that really matter to communities and neighbourhoods.

The money is part of the first multi-year funding settlement in over a decade, giving councils three years of financial certainty so they can plan ahead rather than having to firefight from year to year.

In total, councils will see a 15 per cent increase in their core spending power compared to 2025-26 to pay for services including bin collections, housing, and children’s services.

And in a turning point for the way local government is funded, the outdated system that saw some councils build up savings while others faced financial collapse has been replaced.

Instead, places are now being funded using an evidence-based system that properly recognises local circumstances and the true costs of providing services in deprived communities.

It has been an immense privilege to spend another year representing Wigan in Parliament and whilst I know there is a lot of work still to be done I also think this Labour Government has much to be proud of.

We have delivered 5 million extra NHS appointments and rolled out free breakfast clubs to hundreds of schools. We have passed the Renters Rights Act and the Employment Rights Act to support tenants and workers.

We have launched new legislation to bring the UK's railways back into public ownership. We have passed the Football Governance Act to fix the foundations of football and end the misery that too many football fans have been forced to endure for far too long.

​And we have delivered on our manifesto commitment by introducing the Hillsborough Law to Parliament to prevent cover-ups in official investigations.

I would like to wish everyone in Wigan a very Happy New Year and I look forward to delivering on our town’s priorities again in 2026 to ensure we reverse the last decade of decline and renew our communities in the best possible way.