On Saturday the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, announced a further £1.6 billion in funding to support local authorities delivering essential frontline services during the Covid-19 pandemic. This funding will allow councils to continue to provide support to those who need it most, including getting rough sleepers off the street and supporting new shielding programmes for clinically extremely vulnerable people. It will also provide assistance for our heroic public health workforce and fire and rescue services.
This new funding is in addition to the £1.6 billion announced on the 19th March and means that local authorities will have received over £3.2 billion, an unprecedented level of additional financial support in recent times.
Alongside providing additional funding, the Secretary of State has also taken a number of measures to support immediate cash flow concerns, most recently deferring £2.6 billion in local authority payments of the Central Share of retained business rates and making an upfront payment of £850m in social care grants this month.
