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 (a) the upfront cost to the public purse of local government restructuring and (b) the configuration of unitary restructuring necessary to deliver savings.

We have no estimate of the upfront cost of reorganisation. As set out in my answers to Question UIN 31960 answered on 3 March 2025, and Question UIN 48973 answered on 8 May 2025, the upfront costs of local government reorganisation will be a matter for local councils to consider as they develop their proposals.

In our invitations to councils, we set out that proposals should set out how an area will seek to manage transition costs. We expect that areas will be able to meet potential costs over time from existing budgets, including the flexible use of capital receipts and invest-to-save projects, and the efficiencies from reorganisation.