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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made with the research commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Education as part of the Fair Funding Review on children's services costs; and when they expect to publish the final conclusion of that research.

Our research project on children’s services, which was commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Education, is an important part of our fair funding review of relative needs and resources. The review will set new baseline funding allocations for local authorities in England with a target implementation date of 2020/21.

The research project has made good progress to better understand cost and demand pressures, in order to deliver a robust funding formula for what is a complex and critical service area. We will continue to work closely with the LGA and others in local government to provide updates and seek support where required. The project is aiming to be completed by Summer 2019 for implementation alongside the review.