Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2022 to Question 72914, when the external assurance review of BCP Council's governance and finance arrangements will begin; who will conduct the review; whether local Members of Parliament will be able to give evidence; whether the hearings will be in public and whether the report will be published.

The Department continues to make progress on the necessary arrangements for an assurance review of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council’s governance and finance arrangements and an assessor will be appointed in due course. I will write to local MPs once the appointment has been made and the review has started.

BCP’s external assurance review will be led by a sector expert and, whilst the review will not be conducted through public hearings, the assessor will speak with key officers and members, review relevant documentation and consider any representations from other sources (as they deem necessary) – I expect and will ask for the assessor to contact members of parliament as part of this process. The final report will be publicly available and published on GOV.UK.