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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing unitary authorities throughout England.

On 22 July 2019 the then Secretary of State, the Rt Hon James Brokenshire, told the House in a written statement (HCWS1790) that locally-led changes to the structures of local government, whether in the form of unitarisation or district mergers, can - with local support - be an appropriate means of ensuring more sustainable local government and local service delivery, enhanced local accountability, and empowered local communities. We remain committed to supporting those councils that wish to combine to serve their communities better, and will consider unitarisation and mergers between councils when locally requested.