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 role of the new local assurance board in Surrey.

The government is committed to working closely with councils to ensure the right support is available throughout local government reorganisation implementation to mitigate key risks and challenges. As part of this, we have established an Implementation Forum to provide assurance and support for Surrey. Its role is to identify and mitigate risks that could affect delivery, secure cross-government coordination, and identify any support required to enable successful implementation.

As such, the Surrey Implementation Forum will support the successful establishment of East Surrey Council and West Surrey Council by testing implementation plans and reviewing progress against a set of 22 delivery indicators. These indicators were described in the “Sector Support Note” that was shared with MPs on 16 July 2026 and published on gov.uk. They have been developed with local government colleagues and build on lessons learnt from previous reorganisations. The Forum will meet on a quarterly basis, bringing together representatives of Surrey’s Implementation Team with officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Department for Education, Department of Health and Social Care and other Government departments as required.

Equivalent arrangements are being put in place across all areas undergoing local government reorganisation.