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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how he plans to respond to the recent request from the Leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council for a transitional sum of £1 million in lieu of raising the adult social care precept.

The Spending Review recognised that demographic changes are leading to increased demand for adult social care. To support those most in need, we provided a social care package of up to £3.5 billion by 2019-20. This package includes giving all councils with responsibility for adult social care the option of an extra 2% council tax precept, as long as the precept is spent on adult social care. It is for Redcar and Cleveland to decide if they wish to take up this flexibility.