Government confirms allocations of £1.6 billion funding boost for councils
Individual councils in England have funding allocations confirmed following Local Government Secretary’s announcement of £1.6 billion in additional funding.
Individual councils in England have had their funding allocations confirmed today (28 April 2020) following Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick’s announcement of £1.6 billion in additional funding.
The £1.6 billion funding, recently announced, means councils in England will be provided with over £3.2 billion to deal with the immediate impacts of coronavirus.
During the pandemic, councils are playing a crucial role and this extra funding will help them to continue to deliver frontline services and support to those who need it most, as well as meeting new pressures.
Their work includes getting rough sleepers off the streets, supporting clinically vulnerable people and providing assistance for our public health workforce.
The funding will be distributed to councils across England based on their population and the latest assessment on the challenges they are facing.
The split of funding between county and district councils also reflects the financial pressure being felt by councils as a result of residents doing the right thing and staying at home, rather than using services including car parks and leisure facilities.
A clear majority of district councils will now receive more than £1 million of additional funding to ensure they are fully supported.
Local Government Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:
Councils are playing a central role in our national fight against coronavirus and the government continues to back them at this challenging time.
That’s why I announced an extra £3.2 billion of support for councils to help them to continue their extraordinary efforts.
Today I’m setting out how the latest £1.6 billion of this will be allocated to councils in the fairest way possible, recognising the latest and best assessment of the pressures they face.
We are backing local district councils and a clear majority will receive at least £1 million in additional funding.
The government has confirmed the funding will not be ringfenced, recognising councils are best placed to decide how to meet pressures in their local area.
The split between county and district authorities will be 65:35. Where there are separate fire authorities, a specific tier split for fire of 3% will be used.
This funding is part of comprehensive package of support that has also included allowing councils to defer £2.6 billion in business rates payments to central government and brought forward £850 million in social care grants paid to councils from this month.
The government has today also confirmed that the Review of Relative Needs and Resource and 75% business rates retention will no longer be implemented in 2021 to 2022. This will allow councils to focus on meeting the immediate public health challenge posed by the pandemic.
The government will continue to work with councils on the best approach to the next financial year, including how to treat accumulated business rates growth and the approach to the 2021 to 2022 local government finance settlement.
Further information
The allocations of this £1.6 billion have been published on GOV.UK.
On 19 March we announced an initial £1.6 billion for local councils. These funding allocations were based on a mixture of Adult Social Care Relative Needs Formulas and Settlement Funding Assessment.
On 18 April we announced a further £1.6 billion funding for local councils. These funding allocations are based on a per capita basis, and there will be a 65:35 split between county and district authorities. Where there are separate fire authorities a specific tier split for fire of 3% will be used.
In total we have provided over £3.2 billion to local councils to reflect expenditure pressures and potential loss in income.
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