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 the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness in response to the question from the hon. Member for New Forest East during the Urgent Question on Local Government Reorganisation of 13 July 2026, Official Report, column 618, if she will place in the Library a copy of the response to the Rt hon. Member for New Forest East.

The Department does not routinely publish correspondence between Ministers and Members of Parliament. The reasons for the local government reorganisation decision in Essex were set out in the then Secretary of State’s decision letter to local council leaders of 25 March 2026, available here.

On 7 September 2026, the Government announced that it had withdrawn this decision and the proposals for Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock will now be considered alongside the wider local government reorganisation programme.