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 local government finances and fund public buildings and services, in the context of budgetary cuts under the previous Government.

The Government is committed to fixing the foundations of local government, redirecting funding towards the services and places that need it most. The final 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. In parallel, we delivered the fair funding review reforms through the first multi-year Settlement in a decade. As a result, nine in ten councils will now receive funding that broadly matches their assessed relative need by the end of the multi-year Settlement, up from around a third before our reforms.

Last month, the Government announced £91 million in additional funding to accelerate local councils’ transformation plans in areas such as homelessness, adult social care, children’s services and SEND. This investment reflects a turning point in how the Government intends to support councils to manage their financial position, with an emphasis on long-term prevention over short-term fixes.

The Government’s Pride in Place Programme will provide up to £5.8 billion over 10 years to support 284 neighbourhoods experiencing the highest levels of deprivation. In each place, the local Neighbourhood Board will work with the community to decide how this funding is spent, ensuring investment reflects local priorities.