Local Government Finance

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

I thank my hon. Friend for that.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

Which councils are eligible to be part of the pilot on the 100% retention of business rates and which ones are not?

[Sajid Javid]

All councils that are in two-tier areas.

The second key area where we have listened and responded is funding for adult social care. That issue transcends party politics. Local government may have the statutory duty to look after our most vulnerable citizens, but we all have a moral duty to help it to do so.

The spending review put in place up to £3.5 billion of additional funding for adult social care by 2019-20, but we recognise that the coming year is the most difficult in the settlement period for many councils. There are immediate challenges in the provision of care, and they must be met now before those substantial additional resources become fully available. This settlement creates a new £240 million adult social care support grant, and it allows councils to raise the adult social care precept by up to 3% next year and the year after. Together, those measures make up almost £900 million of additional funding for adult social care available over the next two years. That means that the total dedicated funding available for adult social care over the next four-year settlement period is £7.6 billion.