Conclusion 23

Although the Ministry has set out the areas of local government funding that central government will refund, this does not include all of the detail needed to give local authorities clarity. For instance, on homelessness and rough sleeping it is not clear whether the whole of the homelessness and rough sleeping spend by local authorities will be refunded.62 The Treasury told us that the financial position of local authorities will be something that it will discuss with the Ministry and address in the next spending review.63 54 C&AG’s report, para 1.5, Figure 4 55 Q 66 56 Local Government Association submission, dated June 2020 Qq 62–65 57 Local Government Association submission, dated June 2020 Qq 62–65 58 Q 88 59 Q 67 60 Supplementary Information dated 22 June 2020 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, para 5 61 Q 66 62 Q 87 63 Q 114 Whole of Government Response to COVID-19 17