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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure accountability and transparency in local government spending.

Local authority funding is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland.

The government recognises the significant pressures that councils are facing and is making good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities. We are delivering fairer funding, targeting money where it is needed most through the first multi-year Settlement in a decade.

The 2026-27 Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £78 billion in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England in 2026-27, a 6.1% increase compared to 2025-26, this includes over £4 billion new grant funding.

We are empowering local leaders and giving them flexibility to prioritise spending according to local need.

In England, the new Local Outcomes Framework will be used to understand progress across 16 priority outcomes in local areas. This will improve transparency and enable the public, government, local government and local partners to have a shared view of progress.