Written questions by Reed.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential risk of wildfires in summer 2026.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what is the number of individual correspondence his department received from a) members of the public, b) voluntary groups and c) business representative organisations in favour of the re-organisation of local government in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay prior to the recent consultation.

The Government anticipates an announcement before the summer recess on which, if any, proposal for unitary local government will be implemented in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay. A summary of the consultation will be published at the time of the announcement. A range of views were expressed to the Department as proposals were developed, and local residents and groups have now been able to have their say through the consultation. The Government provided £7.6million last year for councils in England with two-tier local government to develop proposals for unitary local government. This helped councils meet the cost of proposal development, including consultation and engagement with their local communities. All five proposals for local government in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay were consulted on via the recent statutory consultation.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the costs of conducting the consultation on local government re-organisation in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay.

The Government anticipates an announcement before the summer recess on which, if any, proposal for unitary local government will be implemented in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay. A summary of the consultation will be published at the time of the announcement. A range of views were expressed to the Department as proposals were developed, and local residents and groups have now been able to have their say through the consultation. The Government provided £7.6million last year for councils in England with two-tier local government to develop proposals for unitary local government. This helped councils meet the cost of proposal development, including consultation and engagement with their local communities. All five proposals for local government in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay were consulted on via the recent statutory consultation.

Communities and Local Government, when he expects to publish the results of the consultation on local government reorganisation in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay which ended on 26th March 2026.

The Government anticipates an announcement before the summer recess on which, if any, proposal for unitary local government will be implemented in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay. A summary of the consultation will be published at the time of the announcement. A range of views were expressed to the Department as proposals were developed, and local residents and groups have now been able to have their say through the consultation. The Government provided £7.6million last year for councils in England with two-tier local government to develop proposals for unitary local government. This helped councils meet the cost of proposal development, including consultation and engagement with their local communities. All five proposals for local government in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay were consulted on via the recent statutory consultation.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the costs of implementing the re-organisation of local government in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay for each local authority and what funding will his department make available to meet them.

As part of the local government reorganisation process, councils were required to set out assessments of implementation and transition costs within their proposals. It is expected that councils will be able to meet these costs over time from existing budgets, including from the flexible use of capital receipts that can support authorities in taking forward transformation and invest-to-save projects. Alongside this, the Government has announced up to £63 million in capacity funding to support councils going through local government reorganisation. At least £900,000 will be provided for each new unitary council to help with transition and set‑up costs. The consultation for Devon, Plymouth and Torbay closed on the 26 March. The Secretary of State will now assess the proposals against the criteria, the consultation responses, and all other relevant information before deciding which, if any, proposal to implement.

Communities and Local Government, whether he a) intends to require Cornwall, Devon, Torbay and Plymouth separately or together, to be part of a combined directly elected mayoral authority to access the full range of devolved powers b) has set a deadline for implementing this policy and c) has made an estimate of the costs of this additional layer of government.

We want to see all of England access devolved powers as soon as possible by establishing Strategic Authorities that can make the key decisions to drive economic growth and celebrate local identities. We are continuing to engage in conversations with local authorities in Cornwall, Devon, Torbay and Plymouth, to take the next step in unlocking the powers and functions available through the Devolution Framework for these areas, at a pace and configuration to be agreed with local leaders.

Communities and Local Government, if he will provide additional funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026-27 for the cost of delivering services in rural and sparsely populated areas.

On Thursday 20 November, we published the government response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0, which sets out the government’s plan to introduce a fairer and evidence-led funding system. In doing so, we will target a greater proportion of grant funding towards the most deprived places which need it most, ensuring the best value for money for government and taxpayers. The government recognises that different parts of the country face different costs for delivering the same services. For this reason, we propose to take account of variations in costs between local authorities through an Area Cost Adjustment (ACA). The ACA considers differences in labour and rental costs, as well as the cost impact of longer journey times. We are also proposing to include a measure of remoteness, to account for the potential impact on cost for rural authorities that cannot readily access local markets because of their location. Taking into consideration the available evidence and the views of stakeholders, the government has made a judgement that remoteness should be accounted for when assessing the cost of delivering adult social care services.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to engage with local communities in Devon on local government restructuring.

The English Devolution White Paper sets out the Government’s plans for local government reorganisation, and that the Government will write to council leaders as soon as possible to formally invite proposals, setting out information on our criteria for sustainable unitary structures, how and when to submit proposals and how the government intends to respond to proposals.