It's been a busy week with the Chancellor's Spending Review at the heart of it. This allocated funding to government departments for the year from March 2021.
I challenged the Chancellor over local government funding and the decision to finance hard-hit local authorities largely through increases in council tax (see here). There was no additional money to remove dangerous cladding from leasehold flats – only a repeated reminder of the money already allocated for this work. I’m also working with frontbench Labour colleagues to press the Government over its plans for a public sector pay freeze, cuts to Universal Credit, and the slashing of the international aid budget. See here to read my take on the Spending Review's impact for Hackney.
The Public Accounts Committee investigated funding for Further Education colleges and the UK border preparedness for EU Exit. It's not looking good. See here to watch a recording of the hearing on FE funding and see here for the session on the UK border preparedness for Brexit.
And it was announced that London will enter into Tier 2 restrictions from 3 December. This means we can support local businesses again so if you have some money to spare, please try and spend it locally.
We need to keep up our vigilance against the virus as we do not want to enter Tier 3. Please continue washing your hands, wearing your face covering, and keeping your distance.