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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have held discussions with representatives of district councils on the development of county deals.

District council representatives were invited to an online seminar held by the Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government on July 27 2021. Since then a series of meetings have taken place between local representatives, officials and ministers to understand areas’ proposals for county deals; district councils were welcome at these meetings. In discussions thus far, we have been pleased to see collaboration between county and district councils on devolution proposals to deliver better outcomes for their area. Further details on county deals will be set out in the forthcoming Levelling Up White Paper.