Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help support local authorities to keep council-owned leisure centres open.

The Government recognises the challenges local authorities are facing as demand increases for critical services. Resetting the relationship between national and local government and improving how local government is funded in this Parliament, are crucial in ensuring local people get the support and services they need and deserve.

The majority of funding in the local government finance settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities. This includes funding for leisure centres. Future local authority funding decisions will be a matter for the next Spending Review and Local Government Finance Settlement.