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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of the 5000 respondents to the recent consultation on the Somerset local unitary bid supported (a) one Somerset and (b) stronger Somerset.

On 5 July I said in response to the Hon. Member’s parliamentary questions of 28 June, 29 June and 30 June (UIN 23083, 23084, 24394, 24907) that over 5,000 responses have been received for the consultation on local government reorganisation in Somerset; that the Secretary of State expects to announce his decisions on the Somerset unitary proposals before the summer; and this will be accompanied with a summary of responses to the consultation on local government reorganisation in Somerset. This remains the case.