Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Communities and Local Government on the provision of additional funding for local authorities to provide warm spaces for vulnerable people in winter 2022.

The 2022-23 Local Government Financial Settlement provides local authorities with an additional £3.7 billion of resources – including the largest cash-terms increase in grant funding in 10 years. It is for local authorities to determine how to allocate this funding. The Government’s Energy Price Guarantee scheme will cap the unit price households pay for electricity and gas, which means that a typical household in Great Britain will have to pay bills equivalent to no more than £2500 a year on their energy bills this winter. In addition, the Government has provided a £650 Cost of Living payment to over 8 million households on means-tested benefits, with additional support for pensioners and those on disability benefits, and a six-month extension to the Household Support Fund in England.