Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Local Government Boundary Commission for England on establishing the optimum (a) size of electoral division and (b) number of elected councillors in each county division before the April 2020 vesting deadline for new unitary local authorities; and what the outcome was of those discussions.
My officials meet regularly with officers of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England where a range of matters are discussed including the Government’s intentions for implementing proposals for new unitary councils. All such discussions are in the context of the Government’s clear recognition of the independence of the Commission and an appreciation of the Commission’s published guidance on electoral matters and its aim that electoral arrangements for councils should seek to be fair and deliver equality of representation for electors.