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Fourteen English councils under some of the heaviest financial strain in local government will share £91 million to overhaul the services costing them the most, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced on 15 September 2026. The money goes exclusively to authorities already receiving Exceptional Financial Support, a mechanism that helps councils balance the books when spending on services such as adult social care, children's social care and temporary accommodation outstrips what they can afford.
Rather than covering another year of deficits, the funding is meant to pay for two years of reform projects that ministers hope will eventually let these councils stand on their own. Bradford, Brighton & Hove, Haringey, Havering, the Isle of Wight, the Isles of Scilly, Lambeth, Redbridge, Redcar & Cleveland, Sefton, Stoke on Trent, Trafford, Waltham Forest and West Berkshire will each receive a share, split across the 2026-27 and 2027-28 financial years.
At a glance
- Fourteen councils in England already receiving Exceptional Financial Support will share £91 million to modernise their most expensive services.
- The money is split across two financial years, with £41 million allocated for 2026-27 and £50 million for 2027-28.
- Redbridge will use AI powered home devices designed to detect and prevent falls, helping people live independently for longer.
- Stoke on Trent is redesigning frontline social work around a model focused on keeping families together.
- Bradford's allocation of £12.7 million is the largest single amount, while the Isles of Scilly receives £1 million, the smallest.
Which Councils Are Getting the £91 Million and Why
Exceptional Financial Support is the government's safety net for councils that cannot balance their budgets through normal means, typically allowing them to borrow or use capital receipts to cover day to day deficits. All 14 councils named in this announcement are already inside that system. The new funding is designed to break what the department called a "cycle of dependence" on that emergency support by paying upfront for changes to the services driving the deficits in the first place.
The allocations vary by council size and need. Bradford receives the largest share at £12.7 million, followed by Stoke on Trent on £9.14 million and Trafford and Redbridge on £7.5 million each. The remaining nine councils, Havering, Lambeth, Sefton, Waltham Forest, Brighton & Hove, Redcar & Cleveland, Haringey, West Berkshire and the Isle of Wight, receive between £4.79 million and £6.75 million. The Isles of Scilly, by far the smallest authority on the list, receives £1 million.
Jim McMahon, Minister for Local Government, Devolution and Regional Growth, said councils had been under "enormous strain from a broken funding system and spiralling demand for services like care and temporary accommodation." He described the £91 million as "the next step forward" after two years of work reforming local government finance, and said it was intended to provide "a blueprint for reform across local government" rather than a one off rescue for the 14 councils involved.
How Redbridge, Stoke on Trent and Others Plan to Spend It
Each council designed its own project to fit local pressures. In Redbridge, the money will fund AI powered technology that helps people live independently for longer, using home based devices that can detect and prevent falls before they lead to a hospital admission or a move into residential care. In Stoke on Trent, the funding is going towards redesigning frontline social work, introducing a new model that puts keeping families together at the centre of how caseworkers operate, rather than defaulting to more costly interventions later.
Other projects target different pressure points. West Berkshire is building a single point of access for children's services, so families dealing with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, Early Help or Children's Social Care no longer navigate separate teams. Brighton & Hove is piloting a reablement service, staff who help people recover independence after a hospital stay, working more closely with the NHS so people go home sooner. Trafford is investing in a modern computer system to bring council information together in one place, while Haringey plans to buy homes directly to cut its reliance on costly external temporary accommodation providers. Bradford's funding goes towards improving Special Educational Needs and Disabilities transport.
What the fund is designed to change
- Pays upfront for reform projects rather than simply covering another year of deficit spending.
- Lets councils invest in prevention, such as reablement and falls detection, instead of reacting once a crisis has already happened.
- Reduces reliance on expensive external providers, particularly for temporary accommodation.
- Feeds lessons back to government so future funding can be targeted more effectively across local government.
What it doesn't change
- It only applies to the 14 councils already receiving Exceptional Financial Support, not local government generally.
- It does not replace or cancel the Exceptional Financial Support these councils are already receiving.
- The money must be spent within two financial years, on projects already agreed with the department.
- It does not, on its own, resolve the underlying funding pressures driving demand for social care and housing services.
How the £91 Million Fits Into Two Years of Local Government Funding Reform
The department presented the £91 million as one strand of a longer effort to put local government funding on a sustainable footing. It pointed to grants introduced over the past two years, including the Recovery Grant, the Children's Social Care Prevention Grant and the Children and Families Grant, alongside February's multi year Local Government Finance Settlement, the first in a decade, which changed how day to day funding is allocated so money follows need more closely.
That has run alongside reforms to specific high cost areas, including children's services and rough sleeping, and a decision to write off 90% of councils' historic deficits linked to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Ministers say modernising the costliest services should free councils to focus on what residents rely on most, from social care to safe, secure housing.
When the £91 Million Lands and What Councils Must Show for It
The £91 million will be released over the next two financial years, with £41 million available in 2026-27 and the remaining £50 million following in 2027-28. Each council's project has already been agreed with the department, tying the money to specific, named schemes rather than general spending.
The government says it will track how the projects perform and use the findings to shape future funding decisions across local government, rather than treating this as a closed exercise limited to the 14 authorities involved. Whether that ambition is met will depend on how quickly councils like Redbridge and Stoke on Trent can show their reforms cut costs.
Key Takeaways
- Fourteen councils already receiving Exceptional Financial Support will share £91 million to modernise their most expensive services over two years.
- The funding is split between £41 million in 2026-27 and £50 million in 2027-28, with Bradford receiving the largest allocation at £12.7 million.
- Redbridge is investing in AI powered falls detection technology, while Stoke on Trent is redesigning frontline social work around keeping families together.
- Other councils are targeting temporary accommodation costs, SEND transport, children's services access and NHS linked reablement care.
- The fund builds on two years of local government finance reform, including a multi year settlement and a 90% write off of councils' historic SEND deficits.
Sources & Further Reading
- GOV.UK - Councils' high cost services to be transformed through £91m fund Archived copy (OGL): archived page