‘Astonished’ MPs told £817m has gone unspent in housing budget

Philip Hammond is under pressure to allocate more funding for local government in his statement this week.MPs are demanding an urgent explanation from ministers after being told that £817m allocated for desperately needed affordable housing and other projects in cash-strapped local authorities has been returned to the Treasury unspent.The surrender of the unused cash has astonished members of the cross-party housing, communities and local government select committee at a time when Theresa