Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his oral contribution of 20 July 2020, Official Report, column 1866, on the Coronavirus Response, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to the Director of Public Health in Newcastle to respond to the covid-19 outbreak; and what the criteria would be for further such funding to be allocated to that Director.

A support grant of £2,185,756 was allocated to Newcastle City Council to develop and implement Outbreak Control Plans to mitigate against and manage local outbreaks of COVID-19. This was allocated on the basis of the public health grant allocation.

The Government has also provided £4.3 billion of additional funding for local government to help them respond to COVID-19 pressures across the services they deliver.

We will continue to monitor pressures in local government and will keep the position under review.