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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the optimal upper limit of population for unitary authorities.

The?Devolution?and Local Recovery White Paper to be published this year will set out our transformative plans for economic recovery and renewal, and for levelling up opportunity, prosperity, and well-being across the country. Whilst various population ranges for unitary councils have previously been referred to, where a unitary council is proposed its particular circumstances need to be considered when assessing whether its population would be appropriate.