Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 7 February 2018, Official Report, column 1566, on Local Government Finance, if he will encourage local authorities in Dorset to budget for 2018-19 on the basis that they will not be subject to negative revenue support grant in 2019-20; and if he will make a statement.

The local government finance settlement for 2018-19, approved by the House on 7 February, allocated additional resources to local authorities to eliminate so-called ‘negative Revenue Support Grant’ (RSG) in that year. I acknowledge concerns around negative RSG in 2019 to 2020 and we will be looking at fair and affordable options that will address the problem. I plan to formally consult on proposals in the Spring, ahead of next year’s settlement