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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to ensure councils are adequately resourced to manage (a) the consequences of the covid-19 outbreak and (b) social distancing in future years.

Councils across the country are supporting communities, protecting the most vulnerable and helping the NHS in our efforts to combat Covid-19.

We are providing local councils with an unprecedented package of support, including over £4.8 billion of support for?spending?pressures, comprising of £3.7 billion of un-ringfenced grants and over £1.1 billion for the Infection Control Fund.?In total, over £28 billion has been committed to local areas to support councils, businesses and communities across government. This comprehensive package of support includes direct financial support and cashflow measures for councils, bus and tram services, support for the homeless and both grants and rates reliefs for businesses, as well as several other grants.

We have also introduced measures to address lost income, including:

• A co-payment scheme to cover irrecoverable Sales, Fees and Charges income in 20/21 with the Government covering 75% of losses beyond 5% of planned income
• Phased repayment of Collection Fund deficits over the next 3 years
• A commitment to support the sector through an apportionment of irrecoverable Council Tax and Business Rates losses, to be agreed at the Spending Review.

The funding will support the pressures?councils?have reported and the?crucial role they play in?helping the country tackle this crisis, such as their work re-opening the country including working with businesses and shops to enforce social distancing.

In addition, on 22 September the Government announced that £60 million of further funding would be provided to the police and local authorities to support a range of additional enforcement and compliance activity. Further information and guidance on funding will be set out in due course.

The 2020 Spending Review will be an opportunity to look at pressures facing the sector and provide them with the certainty they need to aid financial planning.