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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the officials in his Department who gave advice and guidance to the council leaders of Dorset County, Bournemouth Borough, Weymouth and Portland Borough, West Dorset District, North Dorset District and Poole will be involved in the evaluation of the proposal submitted by those councils on 9 February 2017 for possible reorganisation of local government structures in Dorset.

The advice I receive when I am evaluating any proposal for local government reorganisation will include advice from the team of officials in my department responsible for local governance reform, who as part of their responsibilities provide the kind of information referred to in my answer yesterday to Question UIN 65073 to any councils which request it, as have the nine Dorset councils to whom such information has been provided.