Local Government: Reorganisation
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the levels of Government grants to be provided to each of the proposed unitary authorities under his proposals for local government reorganisation to support their respective general funds in (a) 2028/29; (b) 2029/30; and (c) 2030/31.
Answered by Alison McGovern
As part of the local government reorganisation process, councils were required to set out assessments of implementation and transition costs within their proposals. It is expected that councils will be able to meet these costs over time from existing budgets, including from the flexible use of capital receipts that can support authorities in taking forward transformation and invest-to-save projects.
Alongside this, the Government has announced up to £63 million in capacity funding to support councils going through local government reorganisation. £4.5m is being allocated to councils in Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.
We have delivered the first multi-year settlement in a decade, setting out funding allocations for local authorities for three years, up to 2028-29. As we set out at the provisional Settlement in December, the division of the funding in the multi-year settlement between new unitary councils is a decision for local areas to take.
It is important that these allocations are determined locally because local authorities hold the knowledge and experience needed to assess the level of need and resources at a sub-local authority level. Between now and the end of the multi-year Settlement, there will be another Spending Review which will determine arrangements for 2029-30 and beyond.
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