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 2 January 2026 to Question 99491 on Local Government: Public Relations, whether his Department monitors local authority adherence to the Publicity Code provisions on hiring lobbyists to influence the local government restructuring process.

My letter of 19 November reminded councils in reorganisation areas that they must have regard to the Code when producing publicity relating to local government reorganisation. Concerns about specific cases should be raised with the relevant council’s Monitoring Officer.