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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of local authorities that plan to issue s114 notices during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Department recognises the additional costs and pressures on finances councils are facing as a result of the current Covid-19 crisis. We have made £3.7 billion available to local authorities through an un-ringfenced grant so they can address pressures they are facing in response to the Covid-19 pandemic; this includes £500 million of additional funding announced by the Secretary of State on 2 July. The Government also announced a further component of its comprehensive approach to support councils in addressing their income losses, including a co-payment scheme to cover irrecoverable sales, fees and charges income in 20/21. We also confirmed that we will extend the period over which councils must manage shortfalls in local tax income relating to 2020-21, from 1 to 3 years, and we will announce further details of how we will support local authorities to manage tax losses at the comprehensive spending review later in the year.

The Department continues to engage regularly with the local government sector, which includes our ongoing financial monitoring survey and direct contact with councils and their representatives, local Leaders and Chief Executives. If the Section 151 officer of a council judges that the council is unable to set or maintain a balanced budget, they must consider the possibility of a Section 114 notice. We have worked closely with CIPFA who have temporarily amended their guidance on the use of Section 114 notices to further encourage local authorities to make contact with the Department in the first instance to advise of any immediate financial concerns.