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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the sustainability of local authority children’s services budgets.

Local government core funding is unringfenced, allowing councils to set their own service budgets according to local priorities. The 2019-20 settlement confirmed that Core Spending Power is forecast to increase from £45.1 billion in 2018-19 to £46.4 billion in 2019-20. This is a cash-increase of 2.8 per cent and a real-terms increase in resources available to local authorities. This recognises both the growing pressure on local government’s services and higher-than-expected inflation levels. This year’s Spending Review will determine funding for local government from 2020-21 onwards.