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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2026 to Question 113631 on West Yorkshire Combined Authority: Lexington Communications, whether she will make an assessment of the compliance of the contract between West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Lexington Communications with the Recommended code of practice for local authority publicity published by his Department on 31 March 2011.

Local authorities are required to have regard to the Recommended Code of Practice on Local Authority Publicity when making decisions about publicity. Responsibility for compliance with the Code rests with individual authorities. Where the Secretary of State considers that an authority is not complying with the Code, he has powers under section 4 of the Local Government Act 1986 to issue a direction requiring the authority to comply. Any concerns regarding compliance should in the first instance be directed to the authority concerned. Following this, if the Rt Hon. Member still has concerns about West Yorkshire Combined Authority, he may wish to write to the Department setting out the relevant evidence.