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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many meetings Ministers and officials of his Department have had with officials and members of Somerset County Council; and what correspondence his Department has had with Somerset County Council on unitary status in the last six months.

Ministers and officials regularly have correspondence and discussions with local authorities about a wide range of issues, which may include reorganisation from a two tier structure to unitary status. Such correspondence has recently included a letter from the Leader of Somerset County Council asking for a meeting to discuss his early thinking on restructuring.