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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Local Government Association Fragmented Funding, published on 22 September.

The Government is grateful to the LGA for their work on behalf of local government.

Government has a long-standing policy to provide funding to local authorities on a non-ringfenced basis. This is based on recognising that the removal of ringfences supports good, efficient and innovative financial management at a local level and gives local authorities the freedom and flexibility to make spending decisions based on their local needs and priorities. However, there are occasions where Ministers collectively consider that there is a recognised need to designate specified resources for specific purposes.