Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 February 2021, Local Elections, HCWS773, how much of the £92 million of government grant funding that will be provided to local authorities for the local elections in 2021 will be allocated to (a) Wakefield Council and (b) other local authorities in West Yorkshire.

The Government will now make available an increased estimated total of £95 million to support the running of the May 2021 elections. Of this, £15 million will be paid to local authorities in the form of additional funding grants to support the delivery of the local elections in May, given the additional costs associated with COVID-19 precautions that will be incurred. The grant funding allocations for the five local authorities in the West Yorkshire area are listed below. These allocations reflect the particular circumstances of each local authority area and the level of poll combination expected on 6 May.

The remainder of the £95 million is to fund the conduct of the Police and Crime Commissioner elections and will be paid directly to Returning Officers in line with statutory requirements.