Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Government is taking steps to protect the historic county status of (a) Essex and (b) other counties.

The Government attaches great importance to our country’s history and traditions and encourages recognition of our historic counties, often marked by local celebrations on county days. I write to local leaders to encourage and support these celebrations throughout the year. This year, there are 56 registered historic county flags across Great Britain, which includes the addition of three new flags for Banffshire, Berwickshire and Morayshire. My department proudly flies each registered county flag in Whitehall to mark county days, and this includes flying the flag for Essex.