The Publicity Code is guidance to which local authorities must have regard when producing publicity, defined as “any communication in whatever form, addressed to the public at large or a section of the public”. The Local Government Act 1986 gives the Secretary of State the power to issue Directions to secure compliance with one or more specified provisions of the Code, or all the provisions of the Code.

The Department has made enquiries with Sefton Council Chief Executive on this matter on two separate occasions in recent months and the Council’s responses are currently under active consideration. If and when a decision is taken to exercise the power to issue Directions that decision will be placed in the public domain in due course.

The Publicity Code is guidance to which local authorities must have regard when producing publicity, defined as “any communication in whatever form, addressed to the public at large or a section of the public”. The Local Government Act 1986 gives the Secretary of State the power to issue Directions to secure compliance with one or more specified provisions of the Code, or all the provisions of the Code.

The Department has made enquiries with Sefton Council Chief Executive on this matter on two separate occasions in recent months and the Council’s responses are currently under active consideration. If and when a decision is taken to exercise the power to issue Directions that decision will be placed in the public domain in due course.

The provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2022-23 makes available an additional £3.5 billion to councils, including funding for adult social care reform. This is an increase in local authority funding for 2022-23 of over 4% in real terms, which will ensure councils across the country have the resources they need to deliver key services. In total, we expect Core Spending Power to rise from £50.4 billion in 2021-22 to up to £53.9 billion in 2022-23.

The Government is providing around £1.6 billion additional grant in 2022-23. This includes additional funding for Supporting Families and Cyber Resilience, which will be distributed outside of this Settlement. We are allocating most of that funding through the provisional Settlement, including through a one-off 2022-23 Services Grant, which gives local authorities an additional £822 million of funding for all services. Local authorities can also make use of over £1 billion of additional resource specifically for social care in 2022-23.

For Sefton Council, this represents an increase in cash terms of up to 7.1% compared to last year, worth £17.8 million. This is above the average cash increase across England of 6.9%.