Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of Public Works Loan Board debt on the ability of local authorities to fund essential services during the covid-19 outbreak.

The government has worked closely with local authorities to understand the financial consequences of the covid-19 outbreak, which includes ongoing costs for pre-existing commitments such as repayment of debt. The government has provided councils with over £3.7 billion of grant funding to help them respond to pressure across all their services, a further £1.1 billion to support social care, and over £300 million to support test and trace. The government has also launched an unprecedented new scheme to reimburse councils for lost income during the pandemic.

This additional support addresses the pressures caused by the pandemic and ensures that local authorities can continue to fund essential services. The cost of managing the repayment of PWLB debt is low and, as most PWLB debt is fixed-rate, has not changed because of the pandemic.