Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the the term limits for the positions unitary authorities elected in May 2027.

If the Secretary of State decides to implement a proposal for unitary local government, secondary legislation, which will be subject to Parliamentary approval, will be required to abolish existing councils, establish new structures and make transitional arrangements. Those transitional arrangements, consistent with precedent, would include replacing scheduled local elections in May 2027 with elections for the new councils.

Those councillors elected to new councils in May 2027 will operate initially as councillors for shadow unitary authorities, before the new councils take on full responsibilities and go live in April 2028. The councillors serving in the existing councils being abolished that would ordinarily have had elections in May 2027 will have their terms extended for 11 months to the end of March 2028 to cover the transition period. Term lengths for councillors elected to the new councils will be provided for in the secondary legislation required to implement any proposal.