Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what representations he has received from the British Counties Campaign; and if he will make a statement.

During the course of this Parliamentary session we have received four representations about the British Counties Campaign’s proposal for legislation to promote and give special status to the historic counties.

Whilst traditional counties are rightly no longer part of today’s administrative arrangements, which need to reflect where people live and work today, they are an important element of our heritage which supports the identity and cultures of so many of our local communities.

That is why I recently asked my officials to draft new guidance for English local authorities on promoting their traditional county links.