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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her Department’s policy to restructure the local government funding formula.

This Government is committed to reducing the financial uncertainty that councils face, and to improve the local government finance landscape in this Parliament. We will do this by providing multi-year funding settlements, ending competitive bidding and reforming the local audit system.

Immediate future local authority funding decisions will be a matter for the next Spending Review and Local Government Finance Settlement. The department will work with Local Government leaders to ensure they are better able to fulfil their statutory duties.

This Government recognises the vital work that local councils do for their communities, and we stand ready to speak to any council that is experiencing financial difficulties.