Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 28 October 2025 entitled Local Government Reorganisation, HCWS998, what discussions his Department has had with councils in Surrey on establishing charter trustees.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government believes the historic identity, rights and privileges of cities and counties in England are important and should be safeguarded and celebrated. There have been no specific discussions on this matter with councils in Surrey to date, but we have confirmed that we will work together on the further legislation that we expect will be needed to cover matters such as ceremonial issues.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what county flags have been flown from her Department's headquarters in Marsham Street since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Jim McMahon
No historic county flags have been flown over the Department’s headquarters in Marsham Street since 4 July 2024.
The decision was taken to give English counties more prominence and status by moving from the department offices to the Houses of Parliament, where they will be seen by more people, and closer to MPs, Lords, and visitors wishing to celebrate their own specific county day.
We are pleased to say that individual historic county days are now managed by the Speaker's Office, with flags flown in New Palace Yard. It is expected that the flying of flags in New Palace Yard will increase visibility and engagement, and reflects the importance the government places on historic county days.
We will continue the celebration of Historic County Flag Day around the 23 July this year by the flying of all registered historic county flags and the Union flag in Parliament Square, and encourage all MPs to celebrate the rich history of our counties.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Government is taking steps to protect the historic county status of (a) Essex and (b) other counties.
Answered by Simon Hoare
The Government attaches great importance to our country’s history and traditions and encourages recognition of our historic counties, often marked by local celebrations on county days. I write to local leaders to encourage and support these celebrations throughout the year. This year, there are 56 registered historic county flags across Great Britain, which includes the addition of three new flags for Banffshire, Berwickshire and Morayshire. My department proudly flies each registered county flag in Whitehall to mark county days, and this includes flying the flag for Essex.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his Department’s policy to reintroduce Lord Lieutenancies of the historic counties abolished upon the creation of Greater London in 1965.
Answered by Simon Hoare
The allocation of Lieutenancies to counties was set out in the 1997 Lieutenancies Act and there are currently no plans to amend it.
The Government attaches great importance to the history and traditions of this country and recognises that the tapestry of our historic counties is one of the bonds that draws the nation together. Whilst the Government shares your enthusiasm for promoting historic counties, it has no plans for any legislation on historic counties.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will take steps to issue guidelines to ensure that county days are principally used to celebrate historic counties rather than administrative areas of county councils.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Government attaches great importance to the history and traditions of this country. I am happy to confirm to my Hon. Friend that guidance for local authorities was published in 2019, which emphasises the significance of historic counties.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, in the context of proposed boundary changes, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen the representation of the historic English counties.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Historic counties are an important part of our history and traditions helping to instil community pride and strengthening long lasting ties that have bound our communities together.
Whilst the boundary changes we are proposing, which relate to establishing unitary councils in Cumbria, North Yorkshire, and Somerset, have no direct impact on historic counties, we are very alive to their significance, and so, for example, in Cumbria we are proposing that the two new unitary councils should be called the Cumberland Council and the Westmorland and Furness Council, reflecting their links with the historic past.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if will make an assessment of the potential merits of adding the Black Country Flag to those displayed on County Flags Day.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Government attaches great importance to the history and traditions of this country and we recognise that the tapestry of our historic counties is one of the bonds that draws the nation together. The flying of the registered flags in Parliament Square to mark Historic County Flags Day is the centrepiece of this national celebration of the role of the historic counties. We have no plans to celebrate or raise in Parliament Square regional flags like those of the Black Country, though we recognise the historical significance of such areas and would welcome local partners celebrating them if they choose to do so.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of flying the flags of the Historic Counties for the full week in the lead up to Historic County Flags Day.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Government attaches great importance to the history and traditions of this country and recognises that the tapestry of our historic counties is one of the bonds that draws the nation together. We remain committed to the celebration of historic counties. We are considering with colleagues across Government how best to repeat the 2019 display in Parliament Square to mark Historic County Flags Day in the week of the 23 July, so as to raise the profile of this national celebration.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answers of 11 January 2021 to Questions 131200 and 131201, if he will ask Highways England to mark England’s historic county boundaries on the strategic roads network in line with the Government's guidance on Celebrating the historic counties of England dated 16 July 2019.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Pursuant to the Answers to Questions and 131200 and 131201, the Department has no plans to ask Highways England to implement historic county boundary signs on the Strategic Road Network (SRN).
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 11 January 2020 to Question 131200 on Road Signs and Markings: Cultural Heritage, what steps his Department is taking to implement the Government's guidance on Celebrating the historic counties of England dated 16 July 2019, on the motorway and trunk road network through Highways England.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Pursuant to the answer to Questions 127499, 127500 and 127501, the Department has no plans to ask Highways England to implement historic county boundary signs on the Strategic Road Network (SRN).