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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to reconstitute the former Cheshire County Council by bringing together the unitary authorities of Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East.

There are no plans to bring together the unitary authorities of Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East. Such resource intensive and disruptive restructuring of local government would be an unnecessary distraction. The two Cheshire councils already have the legal powers to share services and work together if they wish, and they do not need the Government’s permission to do so.

The Tri-Borough initiative in London is a good locally-led example of how councils can work together to improve services and delivery savings without the need for local government restructuring.