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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to local government on the number of people standing for election to local councils.

Local government reorganisation, can help strengthen local leadership, improve services, save taxpayers’ money, and improve local accountability.

The department has not made an assessment of the potential impact of reorganisation on the number of people standing for election in local councils. We recognise that Councillors at all levels of local government do a tremendous job in serving their communities day-in and day-out, helping deliver for their local area. All councillors are frontline councillors.

We know people value the role of governance at the community scale and that can be a concern when local government is reorganised. The letter that I sent on 5 February to all councils in two-tier areas and neighbouring unitaries inviting proposals for reorganisation set out that “New unitary structures should enable stronger community level governance and deliver genuine opportunity for neighbourhood empowerment”.