PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Local Government Services: Coronavirus (17 November 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to support local authorities to meet their statutory duties in (a) road maintenance, (b) library services and (c) waste collection in the event that the covid-19 outbreak continues to adversely affect local authorities' finances.

Asked by:
Navendu Mishra (Labour)

Spending Review 2020 has been drawn up in unique circumstances. Our primary aim has been to ensure local government has the resources and stability it needs to continue to provide vital public services and tackle the pandemic. The Spending Review has confirmed that Core Spending Power is forecast to rise by 4.5 per cent in cash terms next year. This real terms increase follows the largest real terms increase in Core Spending Power for a decade at Spending Review 2019. This means local authorities will be able to access an additional £2.2 billion in resources to support Adult and Children’s Social Care and maintain universal services. We will bring forward proposals for the annual local government finance settlement for 2021-22 as soon as we can.

This is all in addition to an unprecedented package of support for local authorities to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. At the Spending Review the Chancellor announced more than £3 billion of additional support for Covid-19 pressures next year. This is on top of the support committed this financial year, including over £7.2 billion for local authorities, even before the extension of the Contain Outbreak Management Fund for those authorities under the highest level of restriction – potentially worth over £200 million a month – announced as part of the Covid-19 Winter Plan. This takes the total support committed to councils in England to tackle the impacts of Covid-19 to over £10 billion.

Answered by:
Luke Hall (Conservative)
27 November 2020