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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 18 July 2016, HC Deb, Official Report, column 538, whether it is the Government's policy not to impose a devolution deal that includes an elected mayor on any area that does not want an elected mayor.

The Government’s policy is that if an area is to have an elected mayor, it will be because that area, through its democratically elected representatives, has chosen to have one.