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 written statement of 5 February 2025 on English Devolution and Local Government, HCWS418, what her planned timetable is for the (a) establishment of shadow unitary authorities, (b) the go-live date for the new unitary authorities and (c) the legal date for the closure of the previous district and county councils in areas where the May 2025 local elections have been cancelled.

Legislation to postpone an election to a principal local election will be in place before the deadline for the posting of notice of that election, which is 25 working days before the scheduled date of election.

There are no plans to postpone district council elections in 2026. The government’s starting point is for all elections to go ahead unless there is strong justification.

Where the scheduled May 2025 elections have been postponed, all by-elections will take place as normal. Where a vacancy would have been filled at an election which is postponed, they will, instead, be filled by by-election.

Decisions on delivery of any new unitary structure, and the timetabling for this, is subject to the content of the proposals received from the area concerned. For any area in which elections are postponed, we will work with areas to move to elections to new ‘shadow’ unitary councils as soon as possible. We intend new unitary local government will be established or go-live in 2027 and 2028. Preceding authorities close on the same day as the establishment of new unitary local government for the area.

We intend the Devolution Priority Programme inaugural mayoral elections to be in May 2026. We will work with areas to move to elections to new ‘shadow’ unitary councils as soon as possible as is the usual arrangement in the process of local government reorganisation.