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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with refence to his Department's oral statement of 5 February 2025 on English Devolution and Local Government, Official Report, col 767, whether it remains his Department's policy that it does not hold elections to bodies that will not exist.

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.