Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the effect on local authority budgets of the Government's no recourse to public funds policy.

I have regular discussions with the Home Secretary and the Communities Secretary about their budgets, including the impact of any government policy that may affect local authority finances.

We need to make sure our immigration system is fair, while also protecting the taxpayer. There are already exemptions to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition for those in genuine need, such as those facing destitution or to protect the welfare of a child. I would expect the relevant departments to raise any issues at the Spending Review, where we can consider how we fund our priorities across government.

Local Government Core Spending Power is increasing in real terms this year. We have provided an additional £650m for social care in 2019-20.