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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed abolition of two-tier local government in Surrey on the debt held by Woking Borough Council.

On 5th February, I wrote to all councils in Surrey to formally invite proposals for unitary local government. As set out in the criteria in the statutory guidance accompanying that invitation, it is for councils to develop robust and sustainable proposals that are in the best interests of the whole area. For areas where there are exceptional circumstances where there has been failure linked to capital practices, such as in Woking Borough Council, proposals should reflect the extent to which the implications of this can be managed locally, including as part of efficiencies possible through reorganisation. We are working with Woking in the context of reorganisation in Surrey to understand what support may be required for the exceptional debt as part of the upcoming Spending Review.