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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her proposed abolition of district and borough councils on housing targets.

This Government has recommitted to delivering 1.5 million homes over this Parliament in our Plan for Change. These targets still apply to councils throughout the process of reorganisation.

The potential impact of local government reorganisation on individual areas will be a matter for local councils to consider as they develop their proposals for reorganisation. As set out in the published criteria for proposals, unitary structures must prioritise the delivery of high quality and sustainable public services to citizens; proposals should show how new structures will improve local government and service delivery and should avoid unnecessary fragmentation of services.