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 oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government of 15 November 2017, Official Report, column 549, when he asked Christchurch Borough Council if it wished to merge with the unitary districts of Bournemouth and Poole; and what response was received to that question.

The Dorset councils’ proposal is for structural change not for a merger of district councils.

However, Christchurch Borough Council had the opportunity to make representations following the Secretary of State’s announcement that he was minded to implement the proposal, and having availed themselves of this opportunity submitted substantive representations, to which the Secretary of State gave careful consideration, and which I placed in the Library of the House in response to my Hon Friend’s Question UIN 129890.