To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many local government posts are subject to regulations on political activity; and how many officials have been disciplined under these regulations in each of the last three years. [19256]

I understand that about 47,000 local government posts in England and Wales are politically restricted under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. Information on the number of officials who have been disciplined under these regulations is not held centrally.