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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2017 to Question 64857, on Local Government: Dorset, what the latest date will be that alternative proposals can be submitted to be considered as part of his initial decision alongside the proposal on local government reorganisation submitted by six Dorset councils on 9 February 2017.

We are now considering carefully the unitary proposal on which the nine Dorset councils have been working, and which six of those councils have formally submitted, together with all the representations we have received to date, including the material submitted by East Dorset District Council under cover of a letter of 21 February from the Council Leader and by Christchurch Borough Council under cover of a letter of 22 February from the Council's Acting Leader, and from Purbeck District Council under cover of an email of 3 March from the Chief Executive.

Our intention is to reach and announce an initial decision as to how we are minded to proceed as soon as practicable. Once we have announced our initial decision, there will still be an opportunity for those interested to submit further representations, including any additional material which East Dorset District Council, Christchurch Borough Council, or Purbeck District Council wishes to submit, before we take our final decision.