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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has advised local authorities in two-tier areas to keep to the local government restructuring timetable with unitary local elections in May 2027.

On 7 September 2026, the Secretary of State announced a review of the local government reorganisation programme and confirmed that elections scheduled for May 2027 would go ahead to existing councils.

The first phase of the review has now concluded that the programme remains robust and continues to support the priorities of the new administration. On 29 October, I wrote to councils setting out that, subject to final decisions, elections to new councils will take place in May 2028, followed by vesting on 1 April 2029.