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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the statutory guidance entitled Appointing mayoral commissioners and setting/reporting allowances, 16 April 2026, paragraph 75, who determines whether a Commissioner has mislead a Local Scrutiny Committee; and to what standard of proof.

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act provides Overview and Scrutiny Committees in Mayoral Combined Authorities and Mayoral Combined County Authorities (known as Local Scrutiny Committees) with the power to impose a civil penalty on a person that misleads the Committee. A person is deemed to mislead a committee if they intentionally alter, suppress, conceal, or destroy information or documentation that has been requested by the Committee.

Regulations made under the Act will set out the detailed arrangements governing the award of such a civil penalty, including their application to Mayors and Commissioners, together with the appeal mechanism available to those subject to a determination of this kind. The relevant regulations will be laid in due course.