Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the balance of Recovery Grant funding between urban and rural authorities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government published the Local government finance policy statement 2026-27 to 2028-29 and response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 on Thursday 20 November, which set out the government's plans to introduce a fairer and evidence-led funding system. The government also published the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029 on Wednesday 17 December 2025.
The government is committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities. Our updates will account for local circumstances, including the variation in cost of delivering services, such as between rural and urban areas. In addition, we are using updated deprivation data in our assessment of need, to help ensure that deprivation in rural areas is captured more accurately.
The government introduced the £600 million Recovery Grant in 2025-26 to support those local authorities facing higher need and demand for services, i.e. higher levels of relative deprivation, and which are least able to fund their own services through income raised locally. A number of predominantly rural authorities, or urban authorities with significant rurality, received the Recovery Grant. Following a large number of representations on the importance of this funding, the government confirmed that we would maintain all existing Recovery Grant allocations from 2025-26 across the multi-year Settlement; and we will also provide a Recovery Grant Guarantee to upper tier authorities which were in receipt of the Recovery Grant.
The government is considering the responses received following the consultation of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026 to 2027 and will set out a position when the final Settlement is published in early February.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on providing additional funding support to local authorities in receipt of the lowest amount of funding for the provision of support for children with special educational needs.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government published the Local government finance policy statement 2026-27 to 2028-29 and response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 on Thursday 20 November, which set out the government's plans to introduce a fairer and evidence-led funding system. The government also published the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029 on Wednesday 17 December 2025.
The government has been clear that we will support local authorities to manage their updated funding positions through a package of transitional arrangements, including by introducing changes over the multi-year Settlement and protecting councils’ income, including locally retained business rates growth. These arrangements will support councils to their new allocations in a sustainable way. Provisional multi-year funding allocations were published at the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement on 17 December 2025, including details on the package of transitional support for councils who would otherwise see their funding fall as a result of the introduction of the reformed system.
The government recognises the challenging financial context for local authorities as they continue to deal with the legacy of the previous flawed system. We will therefore continue to have a framework in place to support those in the most difficult positions. We also recognise that local authorities are continuing to face significant pressure from the impact of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficits on their accounts and that local authorities will need continued support during the transition to a new Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system. We will provide further detail on our plans to support local authorities with historic and accruing deficits and conditions for accessing such support later in the Local Government Finance Settlement process. The Department for Education will set out plans for reform of the SEND system in the upcoming Schools White Paper, building on the work already done to create a system that’s rooted in inclusion, where children receive high-quality support early on and can thrive at their local school.
The government is considering the responses received following the consultation of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026 to 2027 and will set out a position when the final Settlement is published in early February. Between now and the end of the multi-year Settlement, there will be another Spending Review which will determine arrangements for 2029-30 and beyond.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what consideration his Department gave to increasing the number of years for the transitional arrangements for the Fair Funding Review to be in effect.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government published the Local government finance policy statement 2026-27 to 2028-29 and response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 on Thursday 20 November, which set out the government's plans to introduce a fairer and evidence-led funding system. The government also published the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029 on Wednesday 17 December 2025.
The government has been clear that we will support local authorities to manage their updated funding positions through a package of transitional arrangements, including by introducing changes over the multi-year Settlement and protecting councils’ income, including locally retained business rates growth. These arrangements will support councils to their new allocations in a sustainable way. Provisional multi-year funding allocations were published at the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement on 17 December 2025, including details on the package of transitional support for councils who would otherwise see their funding fall as a result of the introduction of the reformed system.
The government recognises the challenging financial context for local authorities as they continue to deal with the legacy of the previous flawed system. We will therefore continue to have a framework in place to support those in the most difficult positions. We also recognise that local authorities are continuing to face significant pressure from the impact of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficits on their accounts and that local authorities will need continued support during the transition to a new Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system. We will provide further detail on our plans to support local authorities with historic and accruing deficits and conditions for accessing such support later in the Local Government Finance Settlement process. The Department for Education will set out plans for reform of the SEND system in the upcoming Schools White Paper, building on the work already done to create a system that’s rooted in inclusion, where children receive high-quality support early on and can thrive at their local school.
The government is considering the responses received following the consultation of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026 to 2027 and will set out a position when the final Settlement is published in early February. Between now and the end of the multi-year Settlement, there will be another Spending Review which will determine arrangements for 2029-30 and beyond.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what consideration was given to providing additional financial support to local authorities that will have large reductions in Government funding.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government published the Local government finance policy statement 2026-27 to 2028-29 and response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 on Thursday 20 November, which set out the government's plans to introduce a fairer and evidence-led funding system. The government also published the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029 on Wednesday 17 December 2025.
The government has been clear that we will support local authorities to manage their updated funding positions through a package of transitional arrangements, including by introducing changes over the multi-year Settlement and protecting councils’ income, including locally retained business rates growth. These arrangements will support councils to their new allocations in a sustainable way. Provisional multi-year funding allocations were published at the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement on 17 December 2025, including details on the package of transitional support for councils who would otherwise see their funding fall as a result of the introduction of the reformed system.
The government recognises the challenging financial context for local authorities as they continue to deal with the legacy of the previous flawed system. We will therefore continue to have a framework in place to support those in the most difficult positions. We also recognise that local authorities are continuing to face significant pressure from the impact of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficits on their accounts and that local authorities will need continued support during the transition to a new Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system. We will provide further detail on our plans to support local authorities with historic and accruing deficits and conditions for accessing such support later in the Local Government Finance Settlement process. The Department for Education will set out plans for reform of the SEND system in the upcoming Schools White Paper, building on the work already done to create a system that’s rooted in inclusion, where children receive high-quality support early on and can thrive at their local school.
The government is considering the responses received following the consultation of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026 to 2027 and will set out a position when the final Settlement is published in early February. Between now and the end of the multi-year Settlement, there will be another Spending Review which will determine arrangements for 2029-30 and beyond.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of the transitional funding arrangements in the Fair Funding Review in ensuring the sustainable operation of local authorities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government published the Local government finance policy statement 2026-27 to 2028-29 and response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 on Thursday 20 November, which set out the government's plans to introduce a fairer and evidence-led funding system. The government also published the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029 on Wednesday 17 December 2025.
The government has been clear that we will support local authorities to manage their updated funding positions through a package of transitional arrangements, including by introducing changes over the multi-year Settlement and protecting councils’ income, including locally retained business rates growth. These arrangements will support councils to their new allocations in a sustainable way. Provisional multi-year funding allocations were published at the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement on 17 December 2025, including details on the package of transitional support for councils who would otherwise see their funding fall as a result of the introduction of the reformed system.
The government recognises the challenging financial context for local authorities as they continue to deal with the legacy of the previous flawed system. We will therefore continue to have a framework in place to support those in the most difficult positions. We also recognise that local authorities are continuing to face significant pressure from the impact of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficits on their accounts and that local authorities will need continued support during the transition to a new Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system. We will provide further detail on our plans to support local authorities with historic and accruing deficits and conditions for accessing such support later in the Local Government Finance Settlement process. The Department for Education will set out plans for reform of the SEND system in the upcoming Schools White Paper, building on the work already done to create a system that’s rooted in inclusion, where children receive high-quality support early on and can thrive at their local school.
The government is considering the responses received following the consultation of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026 to 2027 and will set out a position when the final Settlement is published in early February. Between now and the end of the multi-year Settlement, there will be another Spending Review which will determine arrangements for 2029-30 and beyond.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department considered consulting local authorities or other stakeholders on extending the Recovery Grant.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Following extensive consultation and engagement, we are realigning funding distributed through the Local Government Finance Settlement with need and deprivation. We will target a greater proportion of grant funding towards the most deprived places which need it most, ensuring the best value for money for government and taxpayers.
These updates will account for local circumstances, including for different ability to raise income locally from council tax, and the variation in the cost of delivering services, including between rural and urban areas. By using the most up to date data available, the government will be able to assess local authorities' relative demand for services more effectively. This includes using the most up-to-date 2025 Indices of Multiple Deprivation in our assessment of need.
We introduced the £600 million Recovery Grant in 2025-26 to support the most deprived local authorities which are least able to fund their own services through income raised locally. After years of funding cuts to local government, in which the most deprived places suffered the most, the recovery is not over. Following a large number of representations on the importance of Recovery Grant funding, the government has consulted on its plans to maintain the Recovery Grant across the multi-year Settlement, to enable these places to continue their recovery.
The government is considering the responses received following the consultation of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026 to 2027 and will set out a position when the final Settlement is published in early February.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what analysis was carried out of the potential impact of deprivation on the cost of service delivery for local authorities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Following extensive consultation and engagement, we are realigning funding distributed through the Local Government Finance Settlement with need and deprivation. We will target a greater proportion of grant funding towards the most deprived places which need it most, ensuring the best value for money for government and taxpayers.
These updates will account for local circumstances, including for different ability to raise income locally from council tax, and the variation in the cost of delivering services, including between rural and urban areas. By using the most up to date data available, the government will be able to assess local authorities' relative demand for services more effectively. This includes using the most up-to-date 2025 Indices of Multiple Deprivation in our assessment of need.
We introduced the £600 million Recovery Grant in 2025-26 to support the most deprived local authorities which are least able to fund their own services through income raised locally. After years of funding cuts to local government, in which the most deprived places suffered the most, the recovery is not over. Following a large number of representations on the importance of Recovery Grant funding, the government has consulted on its plans to maintain the Recovery Grant across the multi-year Settlement, to enable these places to continue their recovery.
The government is considering the responses received following the consultation of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026 to 2027 and will set out a position when the final Settlement is published in early February.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of continuing the Recovery Grant on local government finances.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Following extensive consultation and engagement, we are realigning funding distributed through the Local Government Finance Settlement with need and deprivation. We will target a greater proportion of grant funding towards the most deprived places which need it most, ensuring the best value for money for government and taxpayers.
These updates will account for local circumstances, including for different ability to raise income locally from council tax, and the variation in the cost of delivering services, including between rural and urban areas. By using the most up to date data available, the government will be able to assess local authorities' relative demand for services more effectively. This includes using the most up-to-date 2025 Indices of Multiple Deprivation in our assessment of need.
We introduced the £600 million Recovery Grant in 2025-26 to support the most deprived local authorities which are least able to fund their own services through income raised locally. After years of funding cuts to local government, in which the most deprived places suffered the most, the recovery is not over. Following a large number of representations on the importance of Recovery Grant funding, the government has consulted on its plans to maintain the Recovery Grant across the multi-year Settlement, to enable these places to continue their recovery.
The government is considering the responses received following the consultation of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026 to 2027 and will set out a position when the final Settlement is published in early February.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish a list of methodological changes made to the Fair Funding Allocation following the Government's consultation.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Details on how the various formulae were calculated, including data and variables, were published in the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/provisional-local-government-finance-settlement-2026-2027-to-2028-29 These can be found in the supporting documents, in the ‘Methodology for the Fair Funding Review reforms’ section.
The provisional Settlement confirmed that the Recovery Grant, used to target funding at the most deprived places that suffered the most from historic funding cuts, will continue over the multi-year period. The method used to distribute the Recovery Grant to Local Authorities remains the same as last year and can be found in the published Technical note on Recovery Grant Methodology 2025- 2026, found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-note-on-recovery-grant-methodology-2025-to-2026
The government will consider all responses to the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement consultation and set out the details of any changes in the response that will be published alongside at the final Settlement.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the methodology used to distribute Recovery Grant funding to local authorities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Details on how the various formulae were calculated, including data and variables, were published in the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/provisional-local-government-finance-settlement-2026-2027-to-2028-29 These can be found in the supporting documents, in the ‘Methodology for the Fair Funding Review reforms’ section.
The provisional Settlement confirmed that the Recovery Grant, used to target funding at the most deprived places that suffered the most from historic funding cuts, will continue over the multi-year period. The method used to distribute the Recovery Grant to Local Authorities remains the same as last year and can be found in the published Technical note on Recovery Grant Methodology 2025- 2026, found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-note-on-recovery-grant-methodology-2025-to-2026
The government will consider all responses to the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement consultation and set out the details of any changes in the response that will be published alongside at the final Settlement.