Government pledges extra £1.6 billion for councils

Coronavirus: Councils across England will receive a further £1.6 billion to help them to deal with the immediate impacts of coronavirus?

Councils across England will receive another £1.6 billion in additional funding as they continue to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, the Local Government Secretary has announced.

The announcement followed an initial £1.6 billion given to councils last month that supported the work they have done to free up hospital beds and deliver essential supplies to the vulnerable. The additional funding thus takes the total given to councils to help communities through this crisis to over £3.2 billion.

The pandemic has led to significant demands and costs associated with the need to protect the vulnerable, such as older, disabled and homeless people, as well as continuing to keep normal services running, such as bin collections. At the same time as councils have seen a large and immediate hit to their income. Many councils use income from fees and charges to fund a range of services, such as parking, leisure and planning services. Many of these services are scaled back or closed so income has dried up, yet most costs including payment of staff continue to be incurred.

The Local Government Association (LGA) had warned that coronavirus-led demand pressures and a loss of income risk combining to push councils towards financial failure. Without additional government funding guarantee, the LGA said some councils could be subject to Section 114 reports in the next few weeks.

The new round of government funding will support essential services including adult social care and children’s services as well as getting rough sleepers off the street, supporting shielding programmes for clinically extremely vulnerable people and assistance for public health workforce and fire and rescue services.

Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick has written to all councils in England to thank them for their continued efforts as they work around the clock to support their residents.

In his letter, Jenrick called them the “unsung heroes” of the coronavirus response who are helping to keep the country moving by ensuring vulnerable people receive the care they need and essential services continue.

Robert Jenrick MP said:?”The announcement of an additional £1.6 billion of new funding to councils means we have now provided them with over £3.2 billion during this pandemic.

“I promised local government would have the resources they need to meet this challenge and today demonstrates my commitment to doing just that. We stand shoulder to shoulder with local government and my priority is to make sure they are supported so they can continue to support their communities through this challenging time.

“Up and down the country, council workers are the unsung heroes as we tackle this virus. They are in the front line of the national effort to keep the public safe and deliver the services people need. Never has this been more important and we are all rightly grateful for everything that they are doing. This new funding will support them through immediate pressures they are facing to respond to coronavirus and protect vital services.”

Councils will also be allowed to defer £2.6 billion in payments to central government, and £850m in social care grants will be paid up front this month in a move aimed at helping to ease immediate pressures on local authority cash flows.

The Barnett consequentials mean that an extra £300m for the devolved administration, £155m for Scotland, £95m for Wales and £50m for Northern Ireland.

The money will be paid through a grant that is not ring-fenced, recognising that local authorities are best placed to decide how this funding is spent. Allocations to individual local authorities will follow as soon as practicable.

Responding to extra funding for councils to help them cope with the coronavirus crisis announced today, LGA Chairman Cllr James Jamieson said: “Councils across the country are leading efforts to support communities through the unprecedented coronavirus crisis we face. They continue to do an amazing job.

“We are pleased the Government continues to recognise the huge efforts councils and our staff are making and has responded quickly to our deep concerns about the financial strains being placed on them by providing more desperately-needed new funding. Alongside previous money and measures, this will this give councils breathing space.

“It is also reassuring that the Secretary of State has reiterated his promise today that councils will get all the resources they will need to cope with this pandemic. This commitment needs to be rock solid and consistent so councils can stay focused on leading the local response to the greatest challenge we have faced as a nation for decades.
“The pressures facing councils are significant, wide-ranging and vary from place to place and this funding will need to reach all councils. It is good that councils will be able to decide locally how best to spend it on the specific pressures they face in their local area.”

Cllr Peter John OBE, Chair of London Councils, added: “The Secretary of State is right to praise council workers as the unsung heroes of the Covid-19 crisis – and boroughs will be relieved to see his warm words backed up with this latest instalment of much-needed funding. “Local government is playing a crucial role in the country’s response to coronavirus and our resources have come under unprecedented strain. For example, London boroughs have faced the challenge of both the highest coronavirus rates and the most severe homelessness crisis in the country.

Boroughs are working flat-out to find suitable accommodation for thousands of rough sleepers – and this urgent work has massive cost implications for hard-pressed council finances.    
“In this emergency situation, it’s vital central government ensures local services have the funding required to keep supporting communities. We will continue working with ministers to highlight the pressures on council budgets and to make sure extra funding reaches frontline services.”

The Government has brought forward a number of measures to support councils during the pandemic. These include:

• An initial £1.6 billion of funding announced for councils last month: £2.9 billion funding to strengthen care for the vulnerable
• The relaxation of restrictions around supermarket deliveries
• The postponement of local, mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections until May next year
• Temporary suspension of routine Care Quality Commission inspections for the duration of the coronavirus outbreak
• Councils are able to use their discretion on deadlines for Freedom of Information (FoI) requests
• Deadline for local government financial audits has been extended
• Legislation brought forward to remove the requirement for annual council meetings to take place in person, and to allow council committee meetings to be held virtually
• The government has also brought forward the payment of?social care grants, totalling £850m, and will delay £2.6 billion in payments to central government.
• The government is delivering essential supplies to extremely medically vulnerable people in England. The packages, which are being left on people’s doorsteps, contain essential food and household items such as pasta, fruit, tea bags, tinned goods and biscuits for those who need to self-isolate at home but have no support network of family or friend to help them. Over 250,000 boxes have now been delivered and the government said it is on track to deliver nearly 300,000 more.

Last week, the Chancellor also announced a £750m package of support for charities.