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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that local areas that experience a second spike in relation to covid-19 receive additional funding to tackle that spike.

The government has put together an unprecedented package, committing over £27 billion to local areas, to ensure all councils and their communities have the resources they need to continue fighting the coronavirus pandemic. This includes £3.2 billion made available to councils so they can address pressures they are facing in response to the covid-19 pandemic. This funding is un-ringfenced, recognising local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet the major covid-19 service pressures in their local area.

We will continue to work with local government over the coming weeks to ensure we have a collective understanding of the costs they are facing.