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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made on the impact of rising levels of (a) energy costs and (b) inflation on the budgets of local authorities for this and subsequent financial years.

The Spending Review settlement took into account a wide range of cost pressures. We are providing around £1.6 billion of additional grant for local government in 2022/23.

Inflation forecasts are higher than they were at the Spending Review. How that interacts with the finances of local government is, however, not straightforward.   While councils are responsible for their own financial management, and are required to set a balanced budget, we are working closely with the sector to understand what the impact of cost and pressures will be on service delivery and budgets.

Through the new Energy Bill Relief Scheme, the Government will provide a discount on energy prices for local authorities whose bills have been significantly inflated by the global energy crisis.