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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the staff time of Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council involved in setting up the combined authority.

We have made no such estimates. Whether, and how, councils approach setting up a combined authority is wholly a local matter for them. Creation of combined authorities is central to devolving power to local communities to ensure decisions are made locally.