Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Written Statement of 21 July 2021, HCWS234 on Local Government Update, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing combined authorities and mayors in (a) Somerset, (b) North Yorkshire and (c) Cumbria.

As the Prime Minister said on 15 July, we consider that strong local leadership is critical in delivering the government's levelling up agenda. We want more places, especially in city regions and major urban areas, to agree an ambitious mayoral devolution deal where there is local support, and want to widen devolution beyond the cities and provide strong local leadership for all of our places. We have been engaging with a number of councils across England over the summer who have expressed interest in a "county deal".