Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 7 September (HL Deb col 506), what the cost of local government reorganisation has been so far to (1) central government, and (2) local authorities.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government provided a total of ÂŁ7.6m in 25/26 to support the 21 areas undergoing local government reorganisation to develop proposals.
The Government also paid out ÂŁ1.8m in August 2026 to Surrey, with new councils taking on responsibilities from April 2027. This was part of the committed ÂŁ63 million capacity funding to councils undergoing reorganisation.
As part of the Review announced on 7 September, the Government will consider the approach to costs and funding given that areas will have committed some resources to reorganisation.