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 her Department's press release entitled Review of local government reorganisation launched, published on 7 September 2026, if she will outline a summary of the substantive grounds for which the Department's decision-making deemed to be unlawful, without disclosing the legal advice.

On 7 September 2026, the Secretary of State announced that decisions taken for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk would be withdrawn and that implementation of other local government reorganisation decisions would be paused while the Government considers next steps. It is a longstanding principle that the Government does not comment on or publish legal advice.