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 cost to the public purse of (a) legal action and (b) other expenditure arising from the decision to postpone local elections in England in May 2026.

As per the Secretary of State’s correspondence to the Rt. Hon. Member of 23 February, the Government has agreed to pay the claimant’s reasonable legal costs, with the final amount to be determined. Any further Government legal or administrative costs will be met in the usual way.

All local elections scheduled for May 2026 will be going ahead as planned. Spend on administering local elections is a matter for local authorities.