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

To ask His Majesty's Government how the provisions of paragraph 6 of Schedule 27 to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will affect public awareness of the activities of local authorities.

Schedule 27 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (the Bill) makes a small, specific and practical change to the publication of local authority governance changes. It removes the statutory requirement for councils to publish governance changes in printed newspapers but crucially does not prevent them from doing so if they consider that is the best way to inform their local residents.

In practice this change will affect only a very small number of councils. Over 80% of councils already operate the leader-and-cabinet model of governance. The Bill does not make changes to public notices more generally, for example in relation to planning.

Councils will be able to consider the most effective means to bring changes in local governance arrangements to the attention of the public. They could do this through local newspapers, digital platforms, council websites, or other local channels.

Throughout the passage of the Bill the government has and will continue to engage with a wide range of stakeholders.