Oral Answers to Questions

Alun Cairns Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

What fiscal steps he is taking to support local authorities during the covid-19 outbreak.

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

What fiscal steps he is taking to support (a) local authorities and (b) the devolved Administrations during the covid-19 outbreak.

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the adequacy of funding for local authorities during the covid-19 outbreak.

--- Later in debate ---

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend is right to point to the particular pressures on lower-tier councils, which is why councils such as Rugby have benefited from more than £1 million of additional funding. Seventy per cent of district councils have received more than £1 million, which is why the profile for the second allocation of £1.6 billion was changed to recognise the points that he highlights.

[Alun Cairns [V]]

I pay tribute to the Chancellor and to the Chief Secretary for their approach. They will appreciate that the sums involved are staggering, but obviously necessary at this time. Does my right hon. Friend recognise that this is an occasion where we appreciate the strength of the Union—the financial muscle to protect economies and communities in all parts of the UK? Has the Chancellor calculated whether individual nations could have acted independently and, if so, what impact has the collapse in the recent oil price had on that assessment?

[Steve Barclay]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is why £7 billion has been allocated through the Barnett consequentials, including £2.1 billion of additional funding to the Welsh Government. That, of course, sits alongside the UK-wide measures, such as the furlough scheme or the self-employed income support scheme that the Chancellor has announced.