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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has received requests from (a) Thurrock, (b) Essex, (c) Basildon and (d) any other Essex council to cancel the 2026 local elections.

The Department has received no formal requests to postpone elections from councils in Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock that were invited to submit proposals for unitary local government.

In terms of cancelling elections, I expect the secondary legislation that establishes new unitary councils to replace scheduled elections with elections to the new councils. For Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock I anticipate there will be elections to new unitary councils in May 2027.