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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the level of (a) training, (b) standards and (c) pay required for (i) staff and (ii) clerks following local government restructuring.

There has been no assessment made of the level of: (a) training, (b) standards and (c) pay required for (i) staff and (ii) clerks following local government restructuring. Local authorities are independent employers, responsible for the management and organisation of their own workforces, including training, management and pay, and all reorganisation proposals must be led and implemented by individual councils concerned.