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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 7 September (HL Deb col 506), what the cost of local government reorganisation has been so far to (1) central government, and (2) local authorities.

The Government provided a total of £7.6m in 25/26 to support the 21 areas undergoing local government reorganisation to develop proposals.

The Government also paid out £1.8m in August 2026 to Surrey, with new councils taking on responsibilities from April 2027. This was part of the committed £63 million capacity funding to councils undergoing reorganisation.

As part of the Review announced on 7 September, the Government will consider the approach to costs and funding given that areas will have committed some resources to reorganisation.