Essex County Council has begun legal proceedings against the Government over its local government reorganisation (LGR) proposals, the council's leader-elect has confirmed.
Cllr Peter Harris announced the move after writing to Secretary of State Steve Reed MP outlining his intention to mount a legal challenge.
Harris described the Government's proposals as ‘ill-thought, expensive, purely ideological in nature’ and accused them of creating ‘further democratic distance’ between Essex residents and their elected representatives.
A Pre-Action Protocol letter has been filed, marking the formal start of the legal challenge.
Harris said the council would ‘robustly resist’ the reorganisation on behalf of the 1.6 million residents of Essex, adding that those residents had elected the council ‘to do exactly that.’
The reorganisation plans would see the county council, district councils and two unitary authorities in Essex replaced by five new unitary councils.
Daniel Cowan, Labour leader of Southend Council, told the BBC it 'would be a huge waste of public money because at this point you can only legally challenge the process'.
Suffolk County Council's new Reform UK leadership has followed Essex CC in announcing plans for legal action against the Government's reorganisation plans.
To learn more about LGR, check out Local Government Reorganisation: What It Means and Why It Matters.
