Local Government Outcomes Framework

Jim McMahon Excerpts

Thursday 3rd July 2025 Written Statements

[The Minister for Local Government and English Devolution (Jim McMahon)]

Local government delivers over 800 essential services that we all rely on, including to the most vulnerable in society. From shaping local places to supporting community wellbeing, councils directly impact the daily lives of local people, whether they feel safe, feel they belong, and whether they are satisfied with their local area and the facilities and services on their doorstep.

A strong and empowered local government is central to delivery of the national priorities we set out in the plan for change—building 1.5 million homes to supply safe and high-quality housing which is accessible and affordable to all, partnering with the NHS to deliver a stable social care system, and breaking down barriers to opportunity.

Councils are responsible for spending billions of public money. This year the Government made available over £69 billion of funding through the settlement to support delivery. As the demand for local services and the complexity of need has grown, the Government have introduced hundreds of ringfenced spending pots with burdensome reporting requirements to micromanage local areas from Whitehall. This must end. Instead, central Government collectively should support and assess councils on what really matters—the most important outcomes focused on people and the places they call home.

I am therefore announcing today a new local government outcomes framework, which forms an integral part of this Government’s reforms to ensure we have a sector which is fit, legal and decent. The framework sets 15 outcomes that the Government have collectively agreed we will work with local authorities to deliver, ranging from preventing homelessness and rough sleeping to community safety and satisfaction. The framework will measure progress towards outcome delivery, so we know that funding is achieving impact. This approach will help to put the right checks and balances in place to ensure value for the taxpayer and results for citizens to whom councils are ultimately responsible.

We will otherwise give local authorities the flexibility and certainty they need to make the right decisions for their local areas, and support public service reform and the move to prevention and early intervention. This represents a decisive move away from the needless red tape and micromanagement of previous Governments, which wasted taxpayers’ resources, while failing to support service improvements and outcomes for residents.

We are today launching a period of engagement with the local government sector and interested parties on how best to measure delivery of each priority outcome and how the framework can complement existing systems of accountability and support. We welcome views during this process and expect to publish a final framework alongside the provisional local government finance settlement before using the framework to support outcome delivery from April 2026.

The framework, alongside our wider raft of reforms, will combine freedom and flexibility with accountability, creating the right conditions for local authorities to make their own decisions and best deliver for their local citizens.

[HCWS773]