Mayors and local leaders to get £285m initial funding next year
Mayors and local leaders are to receive £285m in initial "seed" funding from the government next year, BBC News reported. The money is described as transitional, meaning it is intended to help local arrangements get under way.
The announcements come ahead of the Budget on Wednesday 28 October. The Budget is the government's annual statement of its spending and tax plans. Mayors and regional leaders across England are expected to receive greater powers and funding in it.
Councils will be helped to borrow money from the government to invest in housebuilding, at preferential, or lower than usual, interest rates. The government will also work with mayors to design a new £1.5bn borrowing facility, available from 2028, to support local priorities.
On housing, the Budget will provide more than £1bn for social and affordable homes in England. Funding for the government's 10-year homes programme will exceed £40bn once the Budget's housing allocation is included.
Housing and local government are devolved matters, so these measures apply in England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own policies in these areas and receive their own funding.
The government's wider plan is to build 300,000 social and affordable homes, according to BBC News. The first £10bn wave of its low-cost housing plan supports the construction of more than 70,000 new homes, Reuters reported in August.
Separately, Alex Depledge, the Treasury's entrepreneurship adviser, has announced she is resigning. She will leave on Thursday, the day after the Budget.
