Point of Order

Lewis Cocking Excerpts

Monday 27th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lewis Cocking (Broxbourne) (Con)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I draw Members’ attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. My point of order relates to comments by Ministers on their plans to impose local government restructuring.

At oral questions on 20 January, the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution asserted:

“The Government are not requiring any area to reorganise…this is a bottom-up reorganisation being requested by local councils”.—[Official Report, 20 January 2025; Vol. 760, c. 720-721.]

However, in answer to a written question on 16 January, the same Minister wrote:

“All levels of local government have a part to play in bringing improved structures to their area through reorganisation, and we expect all councils in an area to work together to develop unitary proposals”.

Labour’s devolution White Paper also pledges to legislate to create a ministerial direction power to force such restructuring through. This is not bottom-up reorganisation.

Ministers have an obligation under the 1997 resolution on ministerial accountability to give accurate answers to Parliament. I seek your advice, Madam Deputy Speaker, on whether contradictory answers are compatible with that resolution.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for providing prior notice of his point of order. As he will know, I am not responsible for ministerial answers to questions, but he has put his point on the record very clearly and I am sure that those on the Treasury Bench will have noted his comments.