The Government has announced how it is distributing the second round of additional funding to councils to help them meet the additional costs of Covid-19.

A first round of £1.6Bn was announced in mid-March, and a second round of the same amount in mid-April.

• Cambridgeshire County Council received £14,611,840 in the first round, and will receive £11,512,037 in the second round – a total of £26,123,877.
• East Cambridgeshire District Council received £43,432 in the first round, and will receive £894,826 in the second round – a total of £938,258.

Both councils are continuing to assess the ongoing financial implications of the virus, in terms of additional costs, lost income, and the need to adjust financial plans and predictions for the future.

Much of the county council’s additional costs will of course be for social care. Both councils’ future plans depend heavily on profits from house-building by their respective trading companies: This Land for the county council and Palace Green Homes / East Cambs Trading Company for the district council. With the housing market and the construction industry nationally in a state of considerable uncertainty, council financial projections are bound to need revisiting.