Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-27 on (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.

This Local Government Finance Settlement is our most significant move yet to make English local government more sustainable. The government is making good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities. We are delivering fairer funding, targeting money where it is needed most through the first multi-year Settlement in a decade.

The provisional Settlement 2026-27 will make available almost £78 billion in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England, a 5.7% cash-terms increase compared to 2025-26. For Surrey Council, we are making available up to £1.3 billion in 2028-29 in Core Spending Power, an increase of up to 6.9% compared to 2024–25. For Surrey Heath Council, we are making available up to £15.4 million in 2028-29 in Core Spending Power, an increase of up to 2.4% compared to 2024–25.