Is my right hon. Friend aware that this settlement will be received with considerable relief by the London boroughs? They have been struggling with cost pressures, which have led to crippling recruitment and retention problems, with rapidly rising population numbers and with three quarters of the nation's homelessness total?

Will my right hon. Friend provide information on two further aspects of the settlement? First, has he succeeded in achieving the end of the council tax benefit subsidy limitations? Secondly, will he assist us further with the cost of temporary accommodation for Britain's homeless families by asking his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to revise the thresholds and caps for housing benefit, to allow London authorities to address the homelessness crisis and to receive full funding to enable them to do so?