questionText: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Surrey County Council paper, "Implementation Programme Update Report, Annex 3 – Draft Illustrative Financial Baseline", of April 2026, what assessment has his department made of whether the estimated West Surrey Council (a) net borrowing of £3.841 billion and (b) gross financing cost of £319.5 million a year, and (c) a gross financing cost as percentage of net revenue budget of 39.9%, is financially sustainable for the new unitary council.
answerText: Multi-year allocations for all councils, including those which have been invited to undergo reorganisation, were set out in the final Local Government Finance Settlement. The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced r...
heading: Local Government Finance: West Surrey