Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Covid-19: Local Authority Support

Monday 22 February 2021 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Government have allocated more than 8 billion directly to councils since the start of the pandemic.
  • Councils will receive more than 3 billion of support in 2021-22 for both additional expenditure and loss of income.
  • Local government in England is set to receive a 4.6 percent cash-terms increase for the next year.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Theresa Villiers Con
Local Government
Context

The question arises from the need to support local councils financially amid the pandemic, addressing their increased costs and reduced revenue.

Question

What steps his Department is taking to support local authorities during the covid-19 outbreak?

Answer from Luke Hall

The Government have allocated more than £8 billion directly to councils since the start of the pandemic. In addition, councils will receive more than £3 billion of support in 2021-22 for both additional expenditure and loss of income. That takes the total support committed to councils in England to tackle the impacts of covid-19 to more than £11 billion.

Answered
Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Get updates like this by email
Q2 Theresa Villiers Con
NHS Local Government
Context

Following the initial question about financial support, this supplementary question addresses the need to continue such support beyond immediate pandemic response to foster a broader health recovery through increased exercise and recreation.

Question

I sincerely thank Ministers for the substantial financial support they have given to local government at this difficult time. May I appeal to them to continue that, not least to enable local authorities to play their part in supporting people to live healthier lives with more exercise and recreation, so that we can generate the broader health recovery that this outbreak tells us we need?

Answer from Luke Hall

I thank my right hon. Friend for that question. She is absolutely right. This is why it is so vital that we have provided a 4.6% cash-terms increase to local government next year—a real-terms increase. I am delighted that in Barnet that means a 5% increase in core spending power—another £14 million next year to spend on local priorities, just as she mentions. Funding and supporting local government, which has been the backbone of our response to covid-19, remain an absolute priority for this Department.

Answered
Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Get updates like this by email