Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide parish and town councils with funding to enable them to support communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whilst we applaud the assistance that many parish councils are providing to their local communities in the current crisis, Government does not financially support parish councils. They are funded through a precept collected from within the overall council tax paid by the residents of the parish. There are no plans to change the funding arrangements for such councils.

On Saturday 18 April the Local Government Secretary announced an additional £1.6 billion of funding to support principal councils delivering essential frontline services, taking the total to £3.2 billion. Parish and Town Councils should liaise with the relevant principal authorities on how this money is allocated in their area.