Declares that many families are living in poverty and that the school holidays in particular are a difficult time for families who are struggling to afford to feed their children; further that Coventry City Council has in recent years supported these families through provision of food vouchers over school holidays; further that due to years of real terms cuts to local government budgets, Coventry Council can no longer afford to continue this provision of food vouchers over the school holidays; further that due to years of real term cuts to local government budgets, Coventry Council can no longer afford to continue this provision.
The petitioners therefore requests that the House of Commons urge the Government to provide increased support for local councils so that they can maintain services including cost-of-living support, and specifically for Coventry Council to be given adequate support to continue their provision of food vouchers to families in need over the school holidays including Christmas.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Zarah Sultana, Official Report, 19 December 2023; Vol. 742, c. 1317.]
[P002892]
Observations from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Simon Hoare):
The Government recognise the vital role that local government plays in supporting communities up and down the country, including providing services for the most vulnerable in our society.
The Government published the provisional local government finance settlement for 2024-25 on 18 December. It makes available up to £64.1 billion to local authorities in England. This is an increase in core spending power of up to £3.9 billion, or 6.5%, in cash terms on 2023-24. For Coventry City Council, this represents an increase of up to 7.1 % compared to 2023-24, making available a total of £363.6 million in 2024-25. Of the almost £4 billion that is being made available for the 2024-25 local government finance settlement, £2 billion is additional Government funding; £1 billion of this is for children’s and adult social care in 2024-25. The majority of the funding provided through the settlement is unringfenced in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities, including, where they decide it is appropriate, the provision of schemes such as food vouchers.
We are seeking views on proposals for the 2024-25 settlement via a consultation, which can be found at this link: https://consult.levellingup.gov.uk/local-government-finance/provisional-lgf-settlement-2024-25 The consultation closes on 15 January. We will consider the responses as soon as the consultation closes before moving on to publish a final settlement early this year, including final local authority allocations, which will be subject to a debate in the House of Commons.
The Government understand the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. That is why we are providing one of the largest support packages in Europe. This includes, for 2023-24, cost of living payments of up to £900 for households on eligible means-tested benefits. In addition, over 6 million people across the UK on eligible “extra costs” disability benefits have been paid a £150 disability cost of living payment and more than 8 million pensioner households have received a £300 cost of living payment as a top-up to their winter fuel payment.
In addition, the household support fund is a scheme run by upper tier local authorities in England to provide discretionary support to those most in need towards the cost of essentials. The current household support fund runs from April 2023 until the end of March 2024 and the Government continue to keep all their existing programmes under review in the usual way.
We are proud that the household support fund has been used to support many households in need in England with the cost of essentials. Over 26 million awards were made between October 2021 and March 2023 across the first three household support fund schemes, and over £2 billion in funding has been provided to local authorities via the household support fund since it began in October 2021.