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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Place Based Budgets: programme, published on 13 July 2026, on what evidential basis were the five pilot locations selected, including the political balance of locations.

The five pilot locations selected are Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities, a defined status set out in the English Devolution White Paper, reflecting the governance maturity, delivery capacity and funding flexibility, through Integrated Settlements, needed to deliver the Place Based Budgets programme at pace. These areas were invited to participate and agreed to do so.

Of the seven areas holding or newly receiving an Integrated Settlement from April 2026, two were not included: Greater Manchester, already delivering similar work through its own Prevention Demonstrator; and the Greater London Authority, whose distinct institutional form and governance arrangements differ from the Combined Authority model the pilots are testing. London continues to benefit from public service reform activity, including Test, Learn and Grow.