Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are monitoring the conduct of local government by-elections in Scotland in order to assess the feasibility of holding such elections in England.

Parliament legislated to delay the May 2020 elections and subsequent local by-elections in location to May 2021. We are not changing that legislation, meaning no-one should expect elections to take place in England before May 2021. This decision was made to give Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers certainty on the timing and combination of elections at the start of the year.

This was outlined in the Minister for the Constitution and Devolution’s letter to Electoral Returning Officers, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-chloe-smith-mp-to-returning-officers