It's difficult to believe it's already February. I know I won't have been alone among council leaders in spending most of the last month trying to figure out how to balance the books following the Government's initial funding settlement. The announcement by ministers last week that an extra £300m would be made available to councils was welcome news. But we all know it wasn't down to luck, just as we know it won't solve all our problems. While 1 believe we are lucky to be working with a secretary of state who is genuinely prepared to listen to the concerns of local government, an outcome like this could only be achieved if he was hearing the same message from a number of quarters. The Local Government Association's (LGA) chairman Lord Porter and I were consistent in our message to ministers - the settlement had to improve and better reflect the needs of councils. In the same vein, Paul Carter from the County Councils Network and Neil Clarke from the District Councils Network carried the same message to Westminster. We also need to recognise the part played by our MPs in making ministers recognise the need for change.
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