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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Internal Drainage Board Levies setting new funding baselines as part of the Local Authority Fair Funding Review.

We are continuing to make good progress with our fair funding review of relative needs and resources, in close collaboration with the Local Government Association. Our recent consultation was an important opportunity for local authorities to tell us about factors which drive expenditure and I know Internal Drainage Board Levies were raised by some. We received over 300 responses to the consultation and these will be carefully considered in the coming weeks. We are considering factors which affect council tax income as part of our assessment of the relative resources available to authorities to fund local services, including Internal Drainage Board Levies, and we will consult on this area in due course.