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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities have received money from the Reopening High Streets Safely Fund to date.

Local authorities are reimbursed for eligible expenditure incurred in arrears once a Reopening High Streets Safely Fund contract has been agreed. This occurs through a quarterly payment cycle with the first one commencing in October.

Local authorities have been able to deliver activities supported by the fund from 1 June 2020. The funding allocated will be made available until 31 March 2021. However, we would expect funding to be spent before then, as the focus is to develop a safe trading environment for companies and consumers as quickly as possible.