Written questions by Jenkin.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his decision for postpone the Mayoral election in Essex, if he will make an estimate of the cost to local authorities of the preparations for that election, including the (a) the actual disbursement of local authorities which cannot be reclaimed and (b) value of the time worked on preparations for those elections by local authority officers and employees.

No assessment has been made by central government. Spend on these elections is a matter for the relevant local authorities.

Communities and Local Government, what recent progress he has made with Cabinet colleagues on allocating funding for the proposed A1331 link road.

£100m from the Housing Infrastructure Fund has been provided to Essex County Council to deliver Phase 1 of the A1331 Link Road, which is under construction. We have been working closely with the council and are expecting them to submit a formal request to Homes England for additional funding to deliver Phase 2 shortly. This request will be considered under the standard Housing Infrastructure Fund processes, and a decision will be made in due course.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the cost to the public purse of local government reorganisation in Essex.

The overall case for local government reorganisation is set out the English Devolution White Paper.A PWC 2020 report estimated that reorganisation of the then 25 two-tier areas to a single unitary would have a one-off cost of £400 million, with the potential to realise £2.9 billion over five years, with an annual post-implementation net recurring saving of £700 million, however as it is for local areas to submit proposals for government to consider, the savings could vary area by area and across England in the round. We are also keen to ensure the wider benefits are also promoted, specifically simplified and more efficient structures.The proposals submitted from the most recently established unitary councils identified a range of efficiencies that could be achieved. Councils in Essex were invited on 5 February to develop proposals for reorganisation, which are due to be submitted to government by September 2025.It will be for the new councils to achieve the efficiencies identified in reorganisation proposals and subsequent detailed implementation and transformation plans while delivering high quality and sustainable public services to local residents and businesses.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, what the evidential basis is that unitary councils save money.

The Case For Local Government Reorganisation in the English Devolution White Paper, states “In 2020 a PwC report, “Evaluating the importance of scale in proposals for local government reorganisation”, for the County Councils Network, estimated that reorganisation of the then 25 two-tier areas to a single unitary structure would have a one-off cost of £400 million, with the potential to realise £2.9 billion over five years, with an annual post implementation net recurring saving of £700 million. The unitary proposals submitted in relation to the most recently established unitary councils identified a range of efficiencies that could be achieved where council services are brought together in one organisation. For North Yorkshire Council, established in April 2023, unitarisation has enabled the council to manage financial pressures through structural changes and service transformation which are expected to achieve more than £40 million in savings by March 2026.”