Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2026 to question 106657 on Secondary Education: Cambridgeshire, by which date the statutory consultation on local government reorganisation will launch.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement of 18 December (HCWS1215), I expect to launch the statutory consultation on proposals for the remaining local government reorganisation areas, including Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, in early February.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what impact assessment he has conducted on the implementation of local government reorganisation.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 77631 on 13 October 2025.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what is the projected total cost of local government reorganisation in England.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 77631 on 13 October 2025.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what is the projected total cost of local government reorganisation in Cambridgeshire.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Exact costs and savings will vary by area, depending on proposals received and which proposals are implemented. It was for local areas to firstly submit proposals, including estimated costs/benefits of each proposal.
We anticipate that we will launch a consultation in February on final proposals for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough that meet the terms of the invitation letter before deciding which, if any, to implement.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 49537 on Mayors: Disqualification, whether a criminal conviction for an imprisonable offence would disqualify a person from being appointed as a metro mayor in (a) London, (b) outside London and (c) where the mayoralty will have the police and crime commissioner responsibilities included within it.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The answer given to the hon. Member in Question UIN 49537 on 30 April 2025 provides the current disqualifications for being convicted of an imprisonable offence for mayors - this applies to metro mayors in and outside of London.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his Department's timetable is for publishing its response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 consultation.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On Thursday 20 November 2025 the government published the response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 alongside the local government finance policy statement 2026-27 to 2028-29.
On Wednesday 17 December 2025 the government published the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029, with a 4-week consultation period, that is seeking views by 14 January 2026.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of mitigating the financial risk of the removal of the statutory override from local authorities regarding the requirement to balance budgets in 2028.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
At Autmn Budget 2025, the government clarified that ambitious Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reform plans will be set out early in the new year and that funding for SEND will be managed within the government’s overall departmental spending limits from 2028-29. Therefore, we do not expect local authorities to need to fund future SEND costs from general funds, once the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Statutory Override ends at the end of 2027-28.
We recognise that local authorities are continuing to face significant pressure from the impact of historic and accruing DSG deficits on their accounts. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government engages regularly with local authorities and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy on the impact of the deficits and the extent to which they are expected to grow. We will set out further details on our plans to support local authorities with their historic and accruing deficits through the upcoming Local Government Finance Settlement.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of the removal of the statutory override on local authority budgets by the end of the 2027-28 financial year.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
At Autmn Budget 2025, the government clarified that ambitious Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reform plans will be set out early in the new year and that funding for SEND will be managed within the government’s overall departmental spending limits from 2028-29. Therefore, we do not expect local authorities to need to fund future SEND costs from general funds, once the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Statutory Override ends at the end of 2027-28.
We recognise that local authorities are continuing to face significant pressure from the impact of historic and accruing DSG deficits on their accounts. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government engages regularly with local authorities and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy on the impact of the deficits and the extent to which they are expected to grow. We will set out further details on our plans to support local authorities with their historic and accruing deficits through the upcoming Local Government Finance Settlement.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of local authorities which may need to issue Section 114s if required to recognise historic DSG deficits on their balance sheets, identified by the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic Financial Outlook, November 2025 (page 128).
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
At Autumn Budget 2025, the Office for Budget Responsibility gave an assessment of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficits which are based on current Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) policy. This government has clarified that we will set out ambitious plans for reform of SEND provision early in the new year and that funding for SEND will be managed within the government’s overall departmental spending limits from 2028-29. Therefore, we do not expect local authorities to need to fund future SEND costs from general funds, once the DSG Statutory Override ends at the end of 2027-28.
The government does not speculate on the number of local authorities that will need financial support, but we recognise that local authorities are continuing to face significant pressure from the impact of these deficits on their accounts. We will set out further details on our plans for support with historic and accruing deficits the upcoming Local Government Finance Settlement.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, from which local authorities in Cambridgeshire he has received formal submissions for the proposed local government reorganisation.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has received submissions from all councils in the invitation area of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.