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 paragraph 5.15 of the Explanatory Memorandum to the Local Authorities (Changes of Years of Ordinary Elections) (England) Order 2025, published on 10 February 2025, how long will new unitary councils exist in shadow form before they are established as full councils.

My Department has no plans to publish the correspondence or substantive text of the petitions mentioned in paragraph 7.4 of the Explanatory Memorandum to the Local Authorities (Changes of Years of Ordinary Elections) (England) Order 2025, or to publish the Government’s responses.

The period a new unitary council exists in shadow form before assuming all council functions will depend on the nature of proposals for local government reorganisation and progress on development of those proposals. The typical period for the recent local government reorganisations has been around one year.