New Inquiry: The Spending Review and Local Government Finance

Wednesday 28 Oct 2020 @ 15:33
Parliamentary Committees and Public Enquiries

The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has launched a new inquiry into the spending review and local Government Finance.

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Treasury spending review

On 21 October, the Treasury announced its intention to carry out a spending review to set departmental and capital budgets for 2021-22 and provide the financial resources to respond to Covid-19. The review will include the allocation of resources to support public services and investment in infrastructure.

Scope of the inquiry

In this new inquiry, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee will consider what approach the Government should take to funding local government as part of the 2020 spending review. It will investigate the current financial health of local authorities and their ability to deliver services, including the additional pressures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In light of continued delays to the multi-year spending review, the Committee will also examine the impact of single year settlements on the ability of councils to plan and deliver services in the long-terms.

Previous inquiry

The predecessor Committee carried out an inquiry into local government finance and the spending review in 2019. More information about its findings is available here.

Terms of reference

The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee wants to hear your views. It welcomes submissions from anyone with answers to the questions in the terms of reference. More information about how to submit evidence is available here.

The Committee invites evidence on the following issues:

The approach the Government should take to local government funding as part of the 2020 Spending Review and what the key features of that settlement should be.
The current financial situation of councils, how this has affected their ability to deliver services and the demand for services, including Adult Social Care.
What the financial challenges facing councils are as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including lost income and local tax losses.
What the impact is of another one-year spending review and a further delay to a multi-year settlement and the Fair Funding Review.

Further information

Channel website: http://www.parliament.uk/

Original article link: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/17/housing-communities-and-local-government-committee/news/120351/new-inquiry-the-spending-review-and-local-government-finance/

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