SEEC's latest Data Dashboard shows the South East's rising population is putting pressure on local authority finances and services. Low levels of funding need to be reviewed to help councils cope with the South East's 8.5 million people.

The South East is expected to see England's highest increase in older people with a rise of 50% predicted over the next 20 years, affecting the need for care services. Meanwhile the number of available jobs is declining and unemployment is rising and more people are living in deprived areas.

Despite being the most populated area of the UK - with some 8.5 million people - the South East remains bottom of the league for central Government funding in areas such as transport, capital funding and in central Government grants to local authorities.

SEEC members continue to make the case for a fairer share of funding and investment to reflect South East needs. The Data Dashboard  highlights how the South East is faring across six key topic areas:

• Economy & employment
• Housing & infratsructure
• Public finance and grants
• Deomgraphy
• Migration
• Environment.

The full dashboard is available on the SEEC website.