Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what mechanism was used to determine how much each local authority will receive from the Covid Winter Grant Scheme.

The Covid Winter Grant Scheme is a new £170m fund which will enable local authorities to support vulnerable households this winter with food and key utilities. Grants to local authorities will be made under Section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003 and will carry conditions to ensure the primary focus of the scheme is on supporting vulnerable families with children affected by the pandemic. Within the conditions, local authorities will have flexibility to decide how best to identify and support those most in need in their local area.

In line with the £63m grant fund made available to local authorities earlier in the year, funding will be dispersed according to an authority’s population, weighted by a function of the English Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Funding allocations for each upper tier Local Authority were published on gov.uk on 24 November: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-winter-grant-scheme/indicative-funding-levels-per-county-council-or-unitary-authority