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 13 January 2025, to Question 21621 on Unitary Councils, what the average (a) population size, (b) number of electoral wards, (c) total number of councillors and (d) residents per councillor were for each unitary council on 21 February 2025.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England collects electorate data from local authorities on an annual basis, and the latest data collection exercise was carried out in 2024. Where an authority has been subject to a completed electoral review which has not been implemented yet, the incoming council size and ward data has been used rather than existing.

From this data, for existing unitary authorities (including the Isles of Scilly), the total average is as follows:

• Average total number of wards/divisions: 31
• Average total number of councillors: 58

Population data is collected and published by the ONS. The latest data available is from 2023, and indicates that the average population in existing unitary authorities is 265,028. Based on this population, the average population per councillor in existing unitary authorities can be calculated to be approximately 4,600 people per councillor.