Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

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.

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.