As I say, we have put that certainty in place for local authorities in terms of the additional funding, and as I said in response to an earlier question, to date we've paid out over £127 million for additional costs, which is claimed on a monthly basis, and £59 million for lost income so far, and that's claimed on a quarterly basis. So, as you'll see, there is a significant amount of funding in that pot yet to claimed.

I don't disagree with local authorities that this is an extremely challenging situation, and budgeting is extremely challenging, but I think that this pot of money, which we worked with local authorities to develop, I have to say, does give that certainty that the funding is there. I appreciate there are other areas where local authorities are experiencing pressures, and we're still working with local authorities on that. One would be the loss of income, for example, on council tax payments, and in recognition of that I've provided an additional £2.9 million to local authorities in order for them to address some of that lost income. We're working very closely with them to understand the loss of income from council tax over the rest of the financial year, but also doing an important and in-depth piece of work with them on the implications of potential loss of income in terms of non-domestic rates as well, so that's an ongoing piece of work.

There's no doubt that this is a challenging situation for local authorities, but we do have to recognise that this funding is in place, and a mechanism is in place that has been established in partnership with local authorities, and which actually stands local authorities in good stead to respond to the local lockdowns, because we didn't have to suddenly invent a new system: we had a system in place that was working and which local authorities could bid into, or rather claim from, for additional funding.