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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to make available further support for Leeds City Council to help meet the costs of tackling the covid-19 outbreak.

We have provided £3.7 billion to local authorities through un-ringfenced grants so they can address the expenditure pressures they are facing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes £500 million of additional funding announced by the Secretary of State on 2 July. Of this £3.7 billion, Leeds City Council has already received £43.7 million and allocations of the latest tranche of £500 million will be announced shortly. This additional funding will ensure councils, including Leeds City Council, have the resources they need for the months ahead.

The Secretary of State has also announced a comprehensive approach to support councils in addressing their income losses. This includes a co-payment scheme to cover irrecoverable sales, fees and charges income in 20/21, and an extension of the period over which councils must manage shortfalls in local tax income relating to 2020-21, from 1 to 3 years. The Government will also announce further details of how it will also support local authorities to manage tax losses at the comprehensive spending review later in the year. Further guidance on the operation of the co-payment scheme will be released in due course.