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 it his policy to ensure that local government is funded to cover increased cost pressures facing the sector in the upcoming medium term fiscal plan.

The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available substantial funding in 2022/23 for local government in England. In addition, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme is providing a discount on energy prices this winter for local authorities whose bills have been significantly inflated by the global energy crisis.

We know that inflation forecasts are higher than they were at the Spending Review. We are working closely with councils and their representatives, as we always do, to monitor the impact on service delivery and budgets.