The Labour Government appears to be frustrating answers over Plymouth's Mayor referendum, with South West Devon MP Rebecca Smith being "left on read" after tabling two written questions to ministers about the referendum.
Ms Smith has tabled two questions to Angela Rayner, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
On 12th June 2025, Ms Smith asked the following questions:
"To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to allow local councils to (a) adopt and (b) retain a mayoral executive model."
"To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, whether new unitary councils will have the option of adopting council mayors as their executive governance."
These were due for responses on 16th June 2025 and 17th June 2025 respectively.
As Ms Smith is still awaiting an answer and has now asked a follow up question:
"To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to answer Question 59537, tabled by the hon. Member for South West Devon on 12 June 2025."
MPs can ask ministers from departments questions orally or in writing. There are three types of questions:
- Ordinary questions, which take between five and ten days to respond.
- Named day questions, which should be answered on the third sitting day after they are tabled. This allows the MP to specify when they will get a response by. MPs are limited to submitting five of these questions each day, allowing departments to prioritise answers to these questions.
- Oral questions, which are asked during ministerial question time. Questions which are tabled but not heard get a written answer from the department.
Departments are required to answer 85% of questions on time, but the House of Commons Procedure Committee reported that this was exceeded during the 2023-24 session.
Rebecca Smith is now urging the government to respond before postal votes start to go out on 21st June. Ms Smith added:
"The Government’s response is vague and failed to provide a clear answer, creating further confusion at a critical time. It confirmed that certain powers aren't included under the Local Government Act 2000, but it completely avoided addressing whether a directly elected mayor model can still exist at the local council leadership level under the new framework.
"In a matter of days, Plymouth residents will start casting their votes in a referendum that will shape how our city is governed. It’s unacceptable that they are being asked to make such an important decision without clear information from the Government about what is legally possible under the new legislation.
“I am urging the Government to provide a direct and unambiguous answer before 21st June, when voting begins. Plymouth deserves transparency, and voters deserve to make their decision based on clear facts, not confusion.”
The Mayor for Plymouth website says that:
“City Mayors are here to stay. Councillors have spread a very misleading claim. There are 13 city Mayors in England and their positions are not under threat.”
Plymouth Plus will provide updates when Ms Smith receives an answer.
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