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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question HL4145 on Local Government: Elections, whether (a) county and (b) district council by-elections will take place in areas where elections are postponed.

As set out in my Statement on 5 February 2025 (HCWS418), I will make secondary legislation to postpone elections to nine local authorities from May 2025 to 2026. No further secondary legislation is planned before May 2025.

Where elections have been postponed, all by-elections to county and district councils will take place as normal. Where a vacancy would have been filled at an election which is postponed, it will, instead, be filled at a by-election.