Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many funds are allocated to local authorities by his Department through a process of competitive bidding; and if he will publish the names of those funds.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The Government believes that providing councils with the freedom to use funding in a way that responds to local needs and priorities is key to supporting financial sustainability and sound financial management.
The Government has a long-standing policy to provide grant funding to local government on a non-ringfenced basis as part of the commitment to greater localism. This policy provides greater funding flexibility to local authorities (LAs) and supports them to make spending decisions based on their local needs and priorities.
LAs also receive significant funding outside of biddable pots, through Section 31 grants and through unringfenced funding. The Local Government Finance settlement and the vast majority of local government’s Core Spending Power (£51.3 billion) is un-ringfenced, giving LAs flexibility over their spending decisions.
There are times when dedicated competitive biddable funding streams are the best way to make sure local government receives the support, they need to deliver the Government’s objectives, including specific funding initiatives, trials or pilots. In such circumstances, Ministers will look to maximise value for money by considering the timing, value and conditions attached to any funding.
Core Defra has run annual competitions for air quality grants, where eligible LAs are able to apply:
Financial Year (FY) 2021-22: A budget of £9 million has been allocated to English local authorities under Section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003. Applications for this competition are currently under evaluation. This competition is offered under two lots:
FY 2020-21: £5 million for the delivery of projects designed to support LAs to develop and/or implement measures to improve local air quality.
FY 2019-20: £2 million for the delivery of projects designed to support LAs to develop and/or implement measures to improve local air quality.
FY 2018-19: £3 million to incentivise LAs to improve air quality in areas most in need of improvement and identify projects which are likely to have the greatest environmental impact.
FY 2016-17: £3 million for LAs in England where Defra’s national air quality assessment, as reported to the EU Commission, identified and/or projected an exceedance, and/or which have one or more Air Quality Management Areas.
In 2020 Core Defra and the Environment Agency invited lead local flood authorities to express interest to participate in our £150m Flood Resilience and Innovation Programme. The 25 successful areas were announced in March 2021, (Innovative projects to protect against flooding selected - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), and received £40k each from Defra to further develop their plans. The Environment Agency is managing the programme, including distribution of the capital funding between now and March 2027.
We have not run any other LA-only competed grants schemes within Core Defra.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what interim financial support he plans to provide to local authorities in the event that the launch of the Deposit Return Scheme is delayed until 2024.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government is committed to ensuring that Local Authorities are properly funded for the services they deliver. In 2021-22, we estimate that local government will see a cash terms increase of 4.6% in core spending power - a real-terms increase. This is in line with last year's increase and recognises the resources councils need to meet their responsibilities and maintain current service levels. In total, we expect Core Spending Power to rise from £49.0 billion to £51.2 billion next year.
With regards to the introduction of a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers, any additional costs incurred by local authorities to support the introduction of a DRS will be funded in line with the new burdens doctrine.