Jane Stevenson, MP for Wolverhampton North East, has welcomed news that Wolverhampton Council will benefit from an extra £6.1 million of Government funding.
The money will be used locally to help the council cover coronavirus-related costs and ensure it has the resources needed to continue providing key services during the pandemic.
It means that Wolverhampton Council has now received £36.3 million in direct extra support from the Government since the start of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Wolverhampton will benefit from a share of a further £100 million to support council-run leisure centres across the country, which are proving key to helping the health and wellbeing of people in the area.
The new funding means that local councils will have £1 billion extra in funding this winter to help maintain vital services.
And Jane said the Government support is proving crucial to people living in Wolverhampton as it means the council can continue to provide the essential services residents need.
She said: “This new extra funding of £6.1 million for Wolverhampton is hugely welcome, and will ease financial pressures on the council to ensure it is able to continue providing vital local services this winter.
“Wolverhampton has now received more than £36 million since the start of the pandemic just to protect local services. On top of that, the Government has committed more than £200 billion to protect jobs, incomes and businesses throughout the pandemic and beyond.
“I am delighted that the Government is keeping its promise to local authorities and ensuring they have the resources they need to continue supporting vulnerable residents across the city.”
The funding has not been ringfenced, meaning local leaders will be able to determine how to spend additional funding in order to best protect public health, local vulnerable people and the running of vital services.
In total, over £4.6 billion of the £6.4 billion in additional Government funding made available to councils has not been ringfenced, reflecting the Government’s view that local authorities are best placed to determine local priorities.
This is the fourth announcement of extra direct support for local authorities since the start of the pandemic. It forms part of an unprecedented package of support for councils, which also includes up to £465 million through the new Local Alert Level system, £300 million to support Test and Trace and £30 million for enforcement and compliance. Councils can also claim funding through a compensation scheme for lost income from sales, fees and charges and further additional support will be made available to areas placed under Tier 3 restrictions.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick MP said: “Since the start of the pandemic, we have backed local councils with the funding they need to support their communities, protect vital services and recover lost income.
“This extra £1 billion funding will ensure that councils have the resources that they need over the winter and continue to play an essential role on the front line of our response to the virus while protecting the most vulnerable and supporting local businesses.”
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden MP said: “It's vital that we keep ourselves fighting fit through the winter months and local authority leisure centres are crucial to this. This £100 million fund will help keep leisure centres across the country open. I urge leisure centres to bid for the money and people to make the most of these precious local facilities.”
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