Local authorities to receive nearly £50Bn for housing and social care

The government has recently announced that local authorities across the country will benefit from the allocation of shares from almost £50Bn worth of funding for the provision of housing, social care, prevention of council tax increases, protection of core funding, and also for supporting local communities.

In terms of specific figures, the total amount of funding which will be divided between the aforementioned local authorities measures at £49.1Bn and represents the largest increase in year-on-year core spending power for more than ten years, with an increase in expenditure of nearly £3Bn and an extra £1.5Bn for the provision of social care.

Regarding the particular amounts of funding, and specific purposes for which they are being provided, it has been revealed that a total figure of £5.5Bn has been reserved for the provision of adult and child social care for the 2020/21 financial year while £907M has been reserved under the New Homes Bonus Scheme for 2020/21 to incentivise the construction of additional housing in local areas.

This incentivisation of the construction of local housing by the government can be perceived as a technique to allow the government to achieve their housing construction goals in the turn of the decade, with the goal being to build 300,000 homes per year by the mid-2020s.

Finally, £81M of the nearly £50Bn being reserved for local authorities will be expressly used for the support of rural communities, with said funding being available under the Rural Services Delivery Grant.

The Local Government Secretary, Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP stated: “This £49.1Bn settlement delivers the biggest real-terms increase in spending power for a decade and a £1.5Bn boost for social care.

“This government is committed to unleashing the huge potential of this country, and we are giving communities the funding that they need to thrive, support the most vulnerable in our society and also protect the vital services that we all rely on.”

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