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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the ability of parish and town councils to apply for grant funding.

The Government does not have powers to offer Section 31 grants directly to parish and town councils, which are instead often funded in part through a precept collected from within the council tax paid by their residents. The Secretary of State has written to principal authorities and asked them to discuss the funding support for parish councils from within the support we have provided them. We continue to encourage parish and town councils to work with their principal authority (district or unitary council) where they are delivering vital services that have been impacted by COVID-19.

In the expectation that parish and town councils continue to show restraint when setting council tax precept levels, the Government has proposed to continue with no referendum principles for town and parish councils in 2021-22. The Government will take careful account of the increases set by parishes in 2021-22 when reviewing the matter ahead of next year’s settlement.

If a parish or town council operates a leisure facility that is outsourced to an external provider, then the parent local authority was eligible to bid to the Sports England National Leisure Recovery Fund (NLRF) on its behalf. Applications to the fund are currently being assessed and the results should be known by late February.

Parish and town councils are also not excluded from the COVID-19 business grant programme where they operate hereditaments that meet the criteria set out in guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding.