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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the consequences will be for (a) Worcestershire County Council, (b) the Worcestershire LEP and (c) the district councils of South Worcestershire of the full implementation of the recommendations of the review by Sir Bob Kerslake of the governance and organisational capabilities of Birmingham City Council.

Membership of any proposed combined authority is a matter for local discretion. There is no compulsion for any local authority to join such a locally-led partnership.

The governance structure of a combined authority would need to be agreed by its potential members, and it would need to meet the necessary statutory tests. It would then be for Parliament to approve any necessary legislative order establishing such an authority.