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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support is available to local authorities to manage the increase in demand for local authority searches.

We have continued to support councils throughout the pandemic, demonstrated by the fact we have provided over £4.6 billion in un-ringfenced funding to councils across four tranches throughout the financial year. This unprecedented level of un-ringfenced funding is in recognition that local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet the major COVID-19 service pressures in their local area