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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with local authority leaders on funding for local authorities.

I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question UIN 184131 on 15 May 2023 and to the Local Government Finance policy statement published 12 December 2022.

On local authority reserves, the Government notes the significant increase in some local authority reserves over the two years of the pandemic. We encourage local authorities to consider how they can use their reserves to maintain services in the face of immediate inflationary pressures, taking account, of course, of the need to maintain appropriate levels of reserves to support councils’ financial sustainability and future investment.