division_name: Local Government Finance
motion: <p class="indent" pid="a1561.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">That the Report on Local Government Finance (England) 2018&#8211;19 (HC 791), which was laid before this House on <phrase class="date" code="2018-02-05">5 February</phrase>, be approved.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1561.2/2" pwmotiontext="yes">That the Report on Referendums Relating to Council Tax Increases (Principles) (England) 2018&#8211;19 (HC 792), which was laid before this House on <phrase class="date" code="2018-02-05">5 February</phrase>, be approved.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1561.2/3" pwmotiontext="yes">That the Report on Referendums Relating to Council Tax Increases (Alternative Notional Amounts) (England) 2018&#8211;19 (HC 790), which was laid before this House on <phrase class="date" code="2018-02-05">5 February</phrase>, be approved.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1587.2/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Years of unprecedented central government funding cuts have left many councils beyond the point where council tax income can be expected to plug the&#8230;gaps&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1587.2/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The current&#8230;financial year has faced significant financial challenges&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1588.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;there is a very short-term focus on solving the financial problems of today&#8230; There is no financial strategy to deliver a sustainable position for the Council&#8230; The Council has a poor record of delivering its approved budget&#8230; Key decisions are not always taken in the understanding of the financial implications, risks and options&#8230; Financial information is not presented clearly and transparently&#8230; Decisions taken by the Cabinet need greater transparency&#8230; Some portfolio holders readily accept the information they are given without systematic and robust challenge.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1600.0/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Councils in England face an overall funding gap that will exceed &#163;5 billion by 2020.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1600.0/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;&#163;1.3 billion&#8230;needed right now&#8230;to stabilise the&#8230;care provider market&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1600.0/11" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Councils also face an unprecedented surge in demand for children&#8217;s services and homelessness support.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1600.0/14" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;My intention is always to provide local authorities with as much certainty as possible&#8230;We published the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement before Christmas to give councils notice of the figures they should use to plan their budgets&#8230;At that time&#8230;we knew the overall scale of the error in the&#8230;published data&#8230;.We therefore published the Provisional Settlement on <phrase class="date" code="2018-12-19">19 December</phrase> on the basis of the&#8230;statistics.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="italic" pid="a1605.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">The House divided:</p>
  
  <p pid="a1605.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">Ayes 287, Noes 223.</p>
  
  <p class="italic" pid="a1605.0/4" pwmotiontext="yes">Votes cast by Members for constituencies in England:<br/>Ayes 263, Noes 188.</p>