Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what powers his Department has to create new unitary authorities.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, together with the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016, provide powers for the Secretary of State, subject to Parliamentary approval, to implement, by secondary legislation proposals for unitarisation made by one or more councils in the area.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria his Department uses for the creation of new unitary authorities.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
Our policy as stated in my Department’s Single Departmental Plan is that we will consider proposals for unitarisation and mergers when requested, and reach a judgment in-the-round as to whether the proposal, if implemented, is likely to improve the area’s local government, commands a good deal of local support in the area and whether the area itself is a credible geography for the proposed new structures.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his Department's policy is on the creation of new unitary authorities.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
Our policy as stated in my Department’s Single Departmental Plan is that we will consider proposals for unitarisation and mergers when requested, and reach a judgment in-the-round as to whether the proposal, if implemented, is likely to improve the area’s local government, commands a good deal of local support in the area and whether the area itself is a credible geography for the proposed new structures.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which local authorities his Department has had discussions with on unitary authority status in the 12 months.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
My Department has frequent discussions with local authorities on a wide range of issues which may include discussions about unitary authority status.