George Howarth
Main Page: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)Department Debates - View all George Howarth's debates with the HM Treasury
(4 years ago)
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Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend knows well how important tourism is to Wales’s economy. In fact, it may well be more reliant on tourism than any other part of the UK, from memory, so I fully understand and sympathise with his desire to get his local tourism businesses open, ready for business and ready to ensure that we can all enjoy the summer safely in Wales.
Sir George Howarth (Knowsley) (Lab) [V]
In response to an earlier question, the Chancellor said that everything in the garden was rosy with local government finance, but he will know that local government faces a catastrophic loss of revenue next year as a result of covid-19, and that that will have a devastating effect on jobs and services. Knowsley Council alone faces a loss of income of £90 million, and the Liverpool city region faces a loss of £112 million, so will the Chancellor give a firm commitment that councils will receive full funding for the collection fund shortfalls in 2021 and 2022?
Rishi Sunak
The Local Government Secretary addressed that issue just last week and unveiled a comprehensive agreement with local government to provide loss sharing on income that has been forgone during this crisis.