§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of state for the Environment if it will be necessary to hold elections for a shadow council for those unitary authorities whose boundaries are coterminous with the boundary of the existing district councils.
§ Mr. Robert B. JonesWhere an authority gaining unitary status is coterminous with an existing county or district council, it will be a continuing authority and there will be no need for a shadow council. There is no statutory requirement for fresh elections to an authority in this position, other than as part of the normal electoral cycle, but it is our policy to require fresh elections to be held for the whole council in the year before reorganisation, to ensure that planning and implementation of unitary functions is done on the basis of a fresh mandate.