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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the full criteria used to select the boroughs who received the £23 million of funding through the Community Champions scheme.

On 25 January we confirmed £23.75 million funding - allocated to 60 councils and further voluntary groups across England - to expand work to support those most at risk from COVID-19 and to boost vaccine take up through the Community Champions scheme. This is part of over £7.9 billion Government funding provided to councils to help them support their communities during the pandemic. The scheme is specifically targeted at areas where challenges may be greatest due to the local combination of disproportionately impacted groups.

The list of local authorities who were invited to take part in the scheme drew upon a wide range of data sources, including Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England long-term data on COVID-19 incidence; data on social integration; and evidence on the prevalence and specific support needs of disabled people in an area.