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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of reductions in local authority funding on Sunderland City Council's delivery of essential services.

Sunderland’s Core Spending Power was £232 million in 2015-16 and will be £231 million in 2019-20. The 4 year settlement means councils can plan ahead with confidence.

Local authorities are independent of central government and are responsible for managing their budgets in line with local priorities. Local spending decisions are better made by people who understand their communities and who are best placed to make the right call.

Sunderland City Council, like other councils, have continued to balance their budget while reducing council tax in real terms and maintaining public satisfaction with services.

The Spending Review took account of the costs of delivery of essential services and set out a sustainable basis for local authorities to discharge their functions. In addition, Spring Budget 2017 announced a further £2 billion funding in England to spend on adult social care over the next 3 years, of which Sunderland was allocated over £14 million over the next 3 years.