We have previously recommended that reform of local government finance should take place in a measured fashion to ensure the new arrangements are fit for purpose and built to last. We recommended that a stable funding environment, ideally based on a multi-year settlement, is established as a bridging mechanism while more fundamental long-term reforms are designed.101 The latest spending review set out local government 91 Committee of Public Accounts, Financial sustainability of local authorities, Fiftieth Report of Session 2017–19, HC 970, 4 July 2018, conclusion/recommendation 4; Committee of Public Accounts, Local government spending, Seventy-Sixth Report of Session 2017–19, HC 1775, 6 February 2019, recommendations 1, 3, 4; Committee of Public Accounts, Local government governance and accountability, Ninety-Seventh Report of Session 2017–19, HC 2077, 15 May 2019, recommendation 1; Committee of Public Accounts, COVID-19: Local government finance, Fourth Report of Session 2021–22, HC 239, 4 June 2021, recommendation 5 92 C&AG’s Report, pages 16 and 33, Figures 7 and 17 93 C&AG’s Report, page 4 94 Qq 69, 74 95 Qq 69, 73–75 96 Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Provisional local government finance settlement: England 2022 to 2023, 16 December 2021 97 Qq 70–73 98 Qq 81–82 99 Qq 91, 95–96 100 Department of Health and Social Care, People at the heart of care: adult social care reform white paper, 1 December 2021. 101 Committee of Public Accounts, COVID-19: Local government finance, Fourth Report of Session 2021–22, HC 239, 4 June 2021, recommendation 6 Local Government Finance System: Overview and Challenges 19 funding for three years but was silent on the prospects for a multi-year settlement for local government.102 Government subsequently announced in December 2021 its intention for a single year settlement for 2022–2023. Rationalising funding arrangements