Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Invitation for Proposals for a Single Tier of Local Government issued to principal authorities in Cumbria by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on 9 October, what plans they have to consider proposals that cross existing county boundaries.
The Secretary of State will carefully consider any proposal for single tier local government received in response to the invitation issued on 9 October 2020 on the basis of the longstanding criteria for establishing unitary councils, namely that, if implemented, it must be likely to improve local government in the area, commands a good deal of local support overall across the area, and lead to unitary councils covering a credible geography.
The statutory Guidance accompanying the invitation states that in formulating a proposal an authority should take into account the impact of any proposed unitary authorities on other local boundaries and geographies; if the area of any proposed unitary authority crosses existing police force and fire and rescue authority boundaries, the proposal should include an assessment of what the impact would be on the police forces and/or fire and rescue authorities and include the views of the relevant Police and Crime Commissioners and Fire and Rescue Authorities.