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

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of Government funding for local authorities in England.

We have now made £4.3 billion available to local authorities to address expenditure pressures caused by COVID-19, including £3.7 billion of unringfenced grants and the £600 million Infection Control Fund.

We are using monthly data collections and conversations with councils and the LGA to refine our assessment of costs and develop a good understanding of the pressures local authorities are currently facing.