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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on engaging with groups with particular protected characteristics covered by the Public Sector Equality Duty when drawing up proposals for a combined authority.

My Department has not issued any such guidance. It is each local authority's own responsibility to ensure it fulfils its obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty when making a proposal for a combined authority.