Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the potential gap between local authority funding requirements and budget allocations in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017, (d) 2018, (e) 2019, (f) 2020, (g) 2021 and (h) 2022.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
At a national level, local government funding is set through Spending Reviews, and is confirmed each year at the Local Government Finance Settlement. The Department assesses the level of funding required for Ministers’ assessment of the services that people need. When agreeing the Spending Review settlement, the Department considers increases in income and potential spending pressures, including inflation and wage growth, and local income growth.
It is for local authorities to decide on levels of service provision within their areas, operating within the national statutory framework. Authorities have flexibility to vary their income – for example by setting Council Tax levels. Local authorities are required to set a balanced budget each year.
The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2022/23 makes available an additional £3.7 billion to councils in England, including funding for adult social care reform. This is a cash-terms increase in local authority funding for 2022/23 of up to 7.4% compared to last year.
This follows year-on-year increases for local government since Spending Review 2019.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support his Department is making available to local authorities facing funding shortfalls.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Spending Review settlement for local government considered a wide range of unit cost pressures, including inflation and public sector pay. The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £54.1 billion in 2022/23 for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22. We are providing an additional £1.6 billion of grant funding to councils in each of the next 3 years, from 2022/23 inclusive. This new funding is the largest cash-terms increase in grant funding for 10 years.
The Department continues to work closely with local councils to understand the impact of macro-economic changes.
We stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to balance its budgets. We also work closely with CIPFA, who have encouraged local authorities to contact the Department in the first instance to discuss any immediate financial concerns.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of base budget pressures on local authority budgets.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Spending Review settlement for local government considered a wide range of unit cost pressures, including inflation and public sector pay. The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £54.1 billion in 2022/23 for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22. We are providing an additional £1.6 billion of grant funding to councils in each of the next 3 years, from 2022/23 inclusive. This new funding is the largest cash-terms increase in grant funding for 10 years.
The Department continues to work closely with local councils to understand the impact of macro-economic changes.
We stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to balance its budgets. We also work closely with CIPFA, who have encouraged local authorities to contact the Department in the first instance to discuss any immediate financial concerns.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of rising energy prices on local authority budgets.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Spending Review settlement for local government considered a wide range of unit cost pressures, including inflation and public sector pay. The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £54.1 billion in 2022/23 for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22. We are providing an additional £1.6 billion of grant funding to councils in each of the next 3 years, from 2022/23 inclusive. This new funding is the largest cash-terms increase in grant funding for 10 years.
The Department continues to work closely with local councils to understand the impact of macro-economic changes.
We stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to balance its budgets. We also work closely with CIPFA, who have encouraged local authorities to contact the Department in the first instance to discuss any immediate financial concerns.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of inflation on local authority budgets.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Spending Review settlement for local government considered a wide range of unit cost pressures, including inflation and public sector pay. The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £54.1 billion in 2022/23 for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22. We are providing an additional £1.6 billion of grant funding to councils in each of the next 3 years, from 2022/23 inclusive. This new funding is the largest cash-terms increase in grant funding for 10 years.
The Department continues to work closely with local councils to understand the impact of macro-economic changes.
We stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to balance its budgets. We also work closely with CIPFA, who have encouraged local authorities to contact the Department in the first instance to discuss any immediate financial concerns.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has plans to review local authority funding.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Spending Review settlement for local government considered a wide range of unit cost pressures, including inflation and public sector pay. The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £54.1 billion in 2022/23 for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22. We are providing an additional £1.6 billion of grant funding to councils in each of the next 3 years, from 2022/23 inclusive. This new funding is the largest cash-terms increase in grant funding for 10 years.
The Department continues to work closely with local councils to understand the impact of macro-economic changes.
We stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to balance its budgets. We also work closely with CIPFA, who have encouraged local authorities to contact the Department in the first instance to discuss any immediate financial concerns.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what funded training the Government is considering to ensure that lay directors of Right to Manage Companies, Residential Management Companies and Commonholds are able to undertake their roles to a suitable standard.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government continues to examine what more can be done to protect and support leaseholders to ensure buildings are managed effectively, including increased provision of training for those who become right to manage company directors. In their 2020 report on the Right to Manage, the Law Commission recommended that free online training covering company law and building management should be made available to RTM company directors and prospective directors. We will respond to the Law Commission's recommendation in due course.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on using the forthcoming spending review to secure funding to expand Housing First provision to other areas in England.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
This Government is committed to ending rough sleeping as part of its latest Manifesto Commitment, utilising schemes like Housing First. Announcements regarding the Spending Review are imminent, which will set out how Government will continue to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what funding will be made available to the Housing First pilots in (a) Liverpool City Region, (b) Greater Manchester, (c) West Midlands Combined Authority to ensure that their clients will continue to be supported beyond their current funding deadlines from March 2023 onwards.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
This Government committed to ending rough sleeping as part of its latest manifesto, utilising schemes like Housing First. A research consortium led by ICF was commissioned at the start of the scheme to evaluate the pilots. Reports on individual pilots and the scheme as a whole will be produced in due course and these will inform next steps. Announcements regarding the Spending Review are imminent, which will set out how Government will continue to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what financial support he plans to make available to leaseholders in homes with unsafe cladding seeking to take legal action against the developers of their homes.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government's proposed changes to the Defective Premises Act 1972 as part of the Building Safety Bill will more than double the time available to seek compensation for substandard building work from six to 15 years. These new measures will provide a legal route to redress that is not currently possible for hundreds of buildings, potentially benefitting thousands of leaseholders.
The Government has been clear that those responsible must pay towards the cost of remediating defective buildings. It is fundamental that the industry that caused this issue contributes to setting things right. Some parts of the industry have done the right thing, funding remediation of serious historic defects, but this is not happening in all cases. In many cases, those who caused the problems are evading responsibility. That is why the Government is taking action, providing a route to redress so that those who caused these problems can be held accountable.
Under the Defective Premises Act, compensation can be claimed by the person who originally commissioned the work, or by any person subsequently acquiring a 'legal or equitable interest' in the dwelling. This includes the freeholder of a block of flats, as well as leaseholders. The Government's position is that it is freeholders who are responsible for ensuring their buildings are safe, and that they should meet the costs of remediation without passing them on to leaseholders wherever possible.
The Building Safety Bill further protects leaseholders by imposing a legal requirement on building owners to explore alternative ways to meet the cost of remediation works before passing these onto leaseholders, along with a requirement (in regulations) to provide evidence to leaseholders. Alternative sources of funding which must be explored before passing costs on include recovering costs from applicable warranty schemes, or from the developers or contractors who were responsible for the defects. Claims under the Defective Premises Act are one additional route that we expect building owners to explore, and our reforms will extend that option to hundreds of blocks where it is not currently possible.