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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2026 to Question 21889 on Local Government: Reorganisation, whether the review of local government restructuring announced on 7 September will affect the timetable for the establishment of new combined authorities and county combined authorities in (a) 2027 and (b) 2028.

Devolution and local government reorganisation are two distinct processes. The recent announcement of a pause pending review on the Local Government Reorganisation Programme does not impact our overall ambition to achieve full devolution coverage by the end of 2028. Unitary local government can help with the smooth functioning of strategic authorities, but it is not generally a prerequisite for their establishment. We will be confirming next steps on the creation of new strategic authorities soon.