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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to improve the capacity of local authorities to rebuild public buildings affected by arson.

The government understands the impact that deliberate fire setting has on people and the communities in which they live and work.

The Local Government Finance Settlement available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power. The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.

Councils can also finance capital expenditure from their revenue budgets, reserves or capital receipts to meet rebuilding and repair costs.