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 assessment of the effectiveness of the UK Municipal Bonds Agency; and what the (a) number and (b) value of loans it has provided to local authorities has been in each year since its establishment.

Under the current system, authorities are responsible for their own borrowing and investment decisions and are accountable to their electorate. Authorities have wide freedoms to borrow from any source, provided it is affordable. Authorities must however, ensure they comply with their statutory duties under the Prudential Framework, and have regard to the four statutory codes that set out best practice.

The Government collects aggregate data on local authorities borrowing and investment activity commensurate to its stewardship function and monitoring of risk, but does not routinely assess the use of borrowing from specific sources such as the UK Municipal Bonds Agency (UKMBA) or the effectiveness of lenders. The UKMBA is owned by local government, central government has no role in the operations of the agency.