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 Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question HL4145 on Local Government: Elections, for what reason her Department is using the provisions in the Local Government Act 2000 rather than the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.

Our use of the power under the Local Government Act 2000 to postpone local council elections is consistent with precedent in areas preparing for local government re-organisation, for example: Buckinghamshire (S.I. 2018/1355), Cumbria (S.I. 2021/174), North Yorkshire (S.I. 2021/175), Northamptonshire (S.I. 2018/1324), Somerset (S.I. 2021/176) and Weymouth and Portland (S.I. 2018/256).

In contrast, the power in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 is for use in the context of a structural changes Order implementing a proposal for local government reorganisation.