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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to (1) enabling alternative arrangements for the collection of signatures, and (2) extending the permitted timescale, for a city mayor referendum petition.

In response to the Coronavirus pandemic the Government has made the?Local Government?and Police?and Crime Commissioner (Coronavirus)?(Postponement?of Elections?and Referendums) (England And Wales) Regulations 2020 which provide in relation to a city mayor referendum petition that:

• the period from 16 March 2020 to the 5 May 2021 must be disregarded when calculating the 12-month period within which signatures can be collected for a petition to be deemed valid; and
• to be valid, a petition cannot be handed in during the period 16 March 2020 to 5 May 2021.

The Regulations also provide that any governance referendum, including a city mayor referendum, scheduled between 16 March 2020 and 5 May 2021 must be postponed to take place on 6 May 2021. The Regulations can be found (attached) at ? https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/395/regulation/12/made