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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will establish an inquiry (1) into which local authorities and other public authorities within England have sub-contracted service provision to contractors whose operations for the provision of those services are located in Scotland, and (2) into the cost of the contracted services provided.

The Government does not have any plans to establish an inquiry into the matter of which local authorities and other public authorities within England have sub-contracted service provision to contractors whose operations for the provision of those services are located in Scotland, or into the matter of the cost of the contracted services provided.

As locally-elected, independent bodies, such matters are for the local authorities themselves to manage. As a matter of course, all local authorities and other public authorities should ensure that they are providing the highest quality services, which local residents expect and deserve.