Recommendation 25

HM Government Acknowledged

Local and regional governments play a vital role in driving local climate action, especially in key areas such as energy, housing, and transport. We understand that the Government has a crucial role to play in supporting local areas to deliver national Net Zero ambitions. As the Net Zero Strategy sets out, our commitments to enable local areas to deliver Net Zero include the setting of clearer expectations on how central and local Government interact. This will be facilitated through the introduction of a Local Net Zero Forum, bringing together officials from national and local government to discuss policy and delivery options. The continuation of the Local Net Zero Programme will further support local areas with their capability and capacity to meet climate goals. Through the current Spending Review settlement, we are boosting funding across a number of building decarbonisation schemes, all of which will be delivered in partnership with local authorities: • £800 million into the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund • £950 million into the Home Upgrade Grant • £1425 million into the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme • £338 million into the Heat Network Transformation Programme LAs will continue to play a key role in the drive to decarbonise our buildings and Government will consider this as part of future spending reviews. The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2022/23 also makes available an additional £3.7 billion to councils, including funding for adult social care reform. This is an increase in local authority funding for 2022/23 of over 4.5% in real terms, which will ensure councils across the country have the resources they need to deliver key services. In total, we expect core spending power to rise from £50.4 billion in 2021/22 to up to £54.1 billion in 2022/23. The majority of this funding is not ring-fenced in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities, including delivering on Net Zero.