10 ways councils are making budgets go further
Discover 10 ways councils are stretching budgets further, from digital transformation and energy efficiency to community partnerships and data-driven decision-making.
EXCLUSIVE: Reorganisation should be last resort, says Unison boss
05/11/2025 Local government reorganisation should only be happening where there is ‘no choice’, general secretary of trade union Unison, Christina McAnea, has said. |
Leicester CC proposes merger with districts
05/11/2025 Leicester City Council has published a new proposal on local government reorganisation, setting out a possible merger with three neighbouring authorities. |
EXCLUSIVE: AI set to help decide local government reorganisation
04/11/2025 Ministers have been warned AI cannot replace ‘robust' analysis, with Whitehall planning to use the technology to help decide local government reorganisation. |
Multi-million-pound redundancy bill in shake-up of Worcestershire councils
04/11/2025 The business case for creating a single unitary authority in Worcestershire estimates that up to £24.2 could be required for redundancy payments. |
Suffolk claims single unitary could lead to reduced council taxes
03/11/2025 Suffolk CC has suggested moving to a single unitary authority as part of the county's local government reorganisation could lead to reduced council taxes. |
Devon councils set out reorganisation proposals
03/11/2025 Plymouth City Council, Torbay Council and Exeter City Council have published proposals for Devon to be divided into four unitary authorities. |
Woking to get £500m bailout as Surrey split in two
28/10/2025 Reorganisation frontrunner Surrey will have its 12 councils replaced by two unitaries, with £500m of Woking BC's debts written off, The MJ understands. |
Nine councils in Derbyshire unite behind two unitaries
27/10/2025 Proposals for two unitaries covering Derbyshire are set to be formally considered by councillors at the eight district and boroughs and Derby City Council. |
Three unitary councils proposed for Staffordshire shake up
27/10/2025 Three southern Staffordshire councils have unveiled a local government reorganisation plan aimed at creating three new unitary authorities. |
Lancashire leaders call for delay to council shake-up
23/10/2025 Lancashire County Council has asked the Government to delay the county’s planned local government reorganisation. |
Two new councils proposed in Cambridgeshire overhaul
23/10/2025 Cambridgeshire County Council has formally approved a major plan to reorganise local government, paving the way for the creation of two unitary authorities. |
Devon’s district councils unveil reorganisation plan
21/10/2025 Devon’s district councils have published a new reorganisation blueprint to reshape how local government works across the county. |
DCN: Deprivation key determinant for spending
21/10/2025 Unitaries with a population over 350,000 tend to spend more per resident on services but are also more likely to run into financial difficulties, DCN shows |
Reorganisation financial risk warning
20/10/2025 Local government reorganisation has been highlighted as a key concern by the Public Accounts Committee. |
New unitaries in the south to cost over £12m
16/10/2025 The creation of new unitary authorities in the South of England is due to cost councils millions of pounds. |
Reorganisation and fair funding will 'throw cards up in the air' on budgets
16/10/2025 The impact of reorganisation and the fair funding review will ‘throw all the cards up in the air' for councils trying to hit budget, sector expert has warned. |
Reform council backs county unitary
15/10/2025 Reform-led Warwickshire CC has backed a plan for a county unitary and a bid to join the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). |
Cumbria devolution plan gets final sign off
14/10/2025 Cumbria is set to gain greater powers and funding after councillors in both Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness approved the Government's devolution plan. |
Council leader accuses critics of ‘gerrymandering’
14/10/2025 The leader of Norfolk County Council has accused opponents of proposals for a single county-wide unitary authority of 'wilful gerrymandering of figures'. |
MPs back five unitary authorities in Essex
14/10/2025 Local government reorganisation plans to create five new unitary authorities in Essex have been backed by several MPs. |
Budget deficit warning over two unitary plan
13/10/2025 One of two unitary authorities proposed for Warwickshire amid local government reorganisation ‘would exist with a budget deficit from day one', report warns. |
Autumn Budget Insights: Can reorganisation and finance move in step?
10/10/2025 The Autumn Budget is a test of whether the Government can align fiscal policy with local government reorganisation (LGR), says Jonathan Carr-West, LGIU. |
Nottingham calls for boundary review under reorganisation plans
10/10/2025 Nottingham CC has confirmed it will submit a proposal to the Government for a boundary review as part of the local government reorganisation (LGR) programme. |
CCN: Social care faces reorganisation ‘triple whammy’
09/10/2025 Plans to split large councils into smaller unitary authorities could hit vulnerable people with worse services, higher costs, and staff shortages, CCN warns. |
EXCLUSIVE: Surrey reorganisation decision delayed
08/10/2025 A final decision on the new unitary structures for Surrey has been delayed, council chiefs have been told. |
New partnership to give councils fresh reorganisation support
06/10/2025 A new partnership between Local Partnerships and the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) will give councils fresh reorganisation support. |
Gosport rejects local government reorganisation plans
06/10/2025 Gosport Borough Council has formally opposed the Government's proposal to reorganise local councils across Hampshire. |
Notts councils clash over reorganisation report
02/10/2025 Two Nottinghamshire local authorities have accused neighbouring councils of ‘prematurely’ publishing a report on local government reorganisation (LGR). |
Devon CC unitary plans to prevent ‘disastrous’ service issues
26/09/2025 Devon County Council has announced proposals to create a new unitary authority as part of its reorganisation plans. |
Norwich backs three-council model to boost ‘local prosperity’
25/09/2025 Norwich City Council has backed proposals for three unitary councils in Norfolk. |
BCP Council considers new town councils
24/09/2025 BCP Council is considering the establishment of three new town councils – Broadstone, Bournemouth, and Poole. |
West Sussex backs single unitary model
24/09/2025 West Sussex County Council has chosen a single unitary authority covering the entire county as its preferred model for local government reorganisation (LGR). |
Portsmouth expected to reject reorganisation
18/09/2025 Portsmouth City Council is expected to formally reject local government reorganisation at a meeting next week, telling ministers to leave the authority alone. |
Reorganisation debt warning
16/09/2025 Ministers need to do more to ensure council debts are not a financial barrier to local government reorganisation, local authority leaders have warned. |
New unitary authorities could push up council tax, DCN warns
15/09/2025 Residents in new unitary authorities could pay increased council tax, the District Councils’ Network (DCN) has cautioned. |
Future Forum Midlands: Councils urged to be transformational under LGR
10/09/2025 Councils facing local government reorganisation (LGR) have been urged to focus on ‘the transformational' to avoid simply creating ‘bureaucratic' change. |
Council considers two-unitary plan for Staffordshire
10/09/2025 A new plan under review at Staffordshire CC could split the county into two unitary authorities as part of the local government reorganisation programme. |
Suffolk unitary proposals could save nearly £80m
10/09/2025 Suffolk County Council has announced plans to create a unitary authority in place of its existing six councils. |
Nearly 50% of residents unaware of reorganisation, survey finds
08/09/2025 Nearly two thirds of survey respondents across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough were uninformed about local government reorganisation (LGR). |
Leicester expansion plans challenged by district councils
08/09/2025 Leicester’s City Mayor’s plans to expand city boundaries have been opposed by district councils and Rutland County Council. |
Reorganisation contracts reach £3.4m
04/09/2025 Councils have awarded contracts worth £3.4m since the start of the year as part of local government reorganisation. |
Proposals for four unitary authorities in Kent published
14/08/2025 Medway Council has published its local government reorganisation proposal for four unitary authorities covering Kent and Medway. |
Gov reluctant to interfere with successful strategic authority boundaries
14/08/2025 The Government has suggested it will not want to rip up existing strategic authority boundaries where the organisations are ‘working well'. |
EXCLUSIVE: MHCLG tells councils not to use public funds to win unitary argument
12/08/2025 Senior Whitehall mandarins have reminded councils not to use public funds to persuade residents to back their favoured reorganisation proposal. |
Nottingham explores expansion options amid reorganisation
06/08/2025 Nottingham City Council is exploring options to expand the city boundaries amid a local government reorganisation consultation. |
Rutland leader survives no confidence vote amid reorganisation row
06/08/2025 The leader of Rutland CC has survived a no confidence vote amid concerns over the local authority's stance on reorganisation under her leadership. |
Boston backs two unitary plan
05/08/2025 A third Lincolnshire council has called for the county to be split into two unitaries under reorganisation – one representing the north and another the south. |
Reorganisation plans to include social care partnerships
04/08/2025 Councils will have to set out plans for partnership working in social care as part of reorganisation proposals, local government minister Jim McMahon says. |
‘Greater Oxford’ reorganisation proposal is ‘flawed’, charity says
31/07/2025 A charity has expressed ‘serious concerns’ about a reorganisation proposal for Oxford due to its environmental impact. |
Procurement consent required for councils in LGR process
31/07/2025 Councils undergoing local government reorganization (LGR) will require consent from successor councils for decisions relating to ‘significant’ or ‘local assets’, according to new guidance. |
EXCLUSIVE: Director suspended by county amid reorganisation vacuum
30/07/2025 A director remains out of the office on full pay almost three months on from being suspended, The MJ understands. |
Reform council asks officers to look at single Kent unitary
30/07/2025 Kent CC's Reform UK leader has asked officers to draw up a detailed options appraisal for a single unitary with three divisions. |
Cambridge CC votes in favour of unitary council
29/07/2025 Cambridge City Council has approved proposals for a unitary council with majority support from councillors. |
Brighton & Hove expansion 'absolutely outrageous'
28/07/2025 An MP has described Brighton & Hove City Council's proposal to expand to the east as ‘absolutely outrageous'. |
DCN: 'Essential' role of districts in setting up new children's services
23/07/2025 District councils will be ‘essential’ to establishing new children’s services through local government reorganisation (LGR), according to a report. |
Councils back three mainland unitaries
21/07/2025 Hampshire CC and East Hampshire DC have backed three unitary mainland councils, with the Isle of Wight remaining as a standalone authority. |
EXCLUSIVE: Crawley ponders legal response to unitary dismissal
17/07/2025 Crawley BC is considering its next steps, including a potential judicial review, after local government minister Jim McMahon dismissed its proposal for a cross-county unitary. |
Communicating through change is key for councils
17/07/2025 Justine Howl, marketing manager at business change consultancy, Entec Si, looks at the importance of communication as part of local government reorganisation. |
District council backs two-authority plan
17/07/2025 Stratford-on-Avon District Council has adopted the two unitary authority model as its preferred option for local government reorganisation. |
Unitary achieves pay harmony six years after reorganisation
16/07/2025 A deal to harmonise legacy pay and terms for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council workers is finally expected to be signed. |
Reading BC accused of reorganisation ‘land grab’
15/07/2025 A proposal by Reading BC to bring five West Berkshire wards under its jurisdiction as part of local government reorganisation has been branded a ‘land grab.’ |
Lewes leader vows to fight Brighton takeover plan
14/07/2025 Lewes DC's leader has vowed to fight a Brighton & Hove City Council proposal to take over parts of her district under reorganisation plans. |
Survey reveals reorganisation scepticism
11/07/2025 Respondents to a poll on local government reorganisation are concerned by proposals to create two unitary authorities for Peterborough and Cambridgeshire. |
Reform-controlled county agrees to back two unitary model
10/07/2025 Reform-controlled Derbyshire CC has agreed to back a two unitary model with a north south configuration. |
Staffordshire reorganisation gathers pace
09/07/2025 Proposals for two unitaries covering the north and south of Staffordshire have gained further support. |
Suffolk district to vote on three-council plan
09/07/2025 West Suffolk Council is set to vote on a proposal for the creation of three new unitary authorities as part of local government reorganisation. |
Three Essex unitaries 'strikes right balance'
07/07/2025 Three unitary councils ‘strikes the right balance' for Essex, the leader of the county council, Kevin Bentley, has said. |
McMahon: No intention to delay reorganisation
25/06/2025 The Government has ‘no intention to delay at all the local government reorganisation process', minister Jim McMahon has said. |
Reorganisation could wipe out 90% of councillors
25/06/2025 Local government reorganisation could result in the loss of nine-in-10 councillors and threaten local democracy, according to the think tank Localis. |
McMahon: Government will abolish council committee system
24/06/2025 The Government has announced plans to legislate to abolish the committee system. |
Scale not key to social care disaggregation
23/06/2025 Adult social care disaggregation should not focus on scale, according to research published today. |
Lancashire councils urged to collaborate
23/06/2025 The Government has urged Lancashire's 15 main councils to work together to agree a plan for local government reorganisation. |
Cambridgeshire asks residents for reorganisation views
20/06/2025 A local government reorganisation survey was yesterday launched for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough residents. |
Ministers propose cancelling Surrey CC elections again
17/06/2025 Ministers have proposed cancelling Surrey CC elections for a second year as they launched a consultation on reorganisation options for the county. |
Job listing creates discord amongst council leaders
12/06/2025 Gloucester City Council (GCC) is facing backlash for advertising a job role that allegedly sells a ‘political agenda’. |
Crawley pauses on West Sussex reorganisation
11/06/2025 West Sussex’s Crawley BC will wait for ministers to decide on Surrey’s reorganisation proposals before giving any views on unitarisation in its own county, The MJ understands. |
Reorganisation savings warning
10/06/2025 The most senior district councillor in the country has warned it could take up to a decade before savings from local government reorganisation are achieved. |
Government announces allocation of £7.6m reorganisation fund
04/06/2025 The Government has revealed how much of the £7.6m grant to support the cost of local government reorganisation each region will receive. |
North Lincolnshire Council rejects ‘super council’
29/05/2025 North Lincolnshire Council has rejected proposals for local government reorganisation in Lincolnshire due to a ‘clear lack of support’ from residents. |
Leader's doubts over Kent reorganisation
28/05/2025 Kent CC's Reform UK leader has thrown the region's reorganisation proposals into doubt following her opening speech to the council. |
Rayner: Mayors must be accountable
23/05/2025 Mayors must be accountable as they take back control of decision making as part of local government reorganisation, the deputy prime minister says. |
EXCLUSIVE: Push for local PACs slows amid Whitehall scepticism
16/05/2025 Support for establishing local versions of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) across England is softening as the Government ponders whether to push the idea. |
Are Reform a challenge for local government reorganisation?
15/05/2025 Laura Hughes, partner at law firm Browne Jacobson, examines whether Reform UK’s local election successes will impact local government reorganisation. |
Surrey reorganisation plan based on ‘flawed data’, opponents claim
14/05/2025 A plan for two new unitary authorities in Surrey is based on ‘inconsistent, incomplete and flawed data’, opposition councillors say. |
Debt hurdle remains for reorganisation plans
14/05/2025 Multi-billion pound debts remain a point of contention in reorganisation negotiations as the deadline passed for the first of the final plans to be submitted. |
Learning from the locals
06/05/2025 Jonathan Werran, chief executive of Localis, reflects on the results of the local elections. |
Exclusive: Community duty mooted
02/05/2025 The Government is looking to hand all councils an extra duty to involve community groups in their decision-making, The MJ has learnt. |
Voters head to polls amid local government reorganisation
01/05/2025 Voters are heading to the polls in parts of England to elect thousands of councillors against the backdrop of local government reorganisation (LGR). |
Surrey councils stand firm in reorganisation plans
30/04/2025 District and borough councils across Surrey have published proposals for local government reorganisation, defying the Government’s requests for unity on final proposals. |
Local elections in the shadow of reorganisation
28/04/2025 Dr Jonathan Carr-West of the LGIU discusses the meaning of the local elections against the backdrop of local government reorganisation (LGR). |
Councils risk being 'fleeced' over reorg, says former commissioner
24/04/2025 Councils facing reorganisation face being ‘fleeced' by consultants keen to profit from the process, a former Northamptonshire CC commissioner has claimed. |
Majority of public ‘not following’ reorganisation
23/04/2025 Nearly two-thirds of the public are not engaged with local government reorganisation, a new poll commissioned ahead of the local elections has revealed. |
Surrey to remain divided on unitary plans
16/04/2025 Surrey's borough and district councils have revealed the region is set to defy government requests for unity on final reorganisation proposals. |
Reorganisation proposals average 544,000 population
14/04/2025 Reorganisation proposals submitted by councils would produce new unitaries of varying sizes but with an average population of 544,837, analysis reveals. |
Essex CC rejects combined authority plan ‘in its current form’
10/04/2025 Essex County Council has told the Government that it cannot support the proposal for devolution in Greater Essex ‘in its current form’. |
East Sussex unitary 'probably most likely option'
02/04/2025 A single tier East Sussex unitary of around 550,000 people is 'probably the most likely' reorganisation option, The MJ understands. |
Leadership and HR in local government transformation
01/04/2025 Pam Parkes, president of the PPMA, argues that the leadership mindset and HR are the missing links in local government transformation. |
Councils accused of publishing ‘biased’ LGR survey
31/03/2025 Surrey County Council has accused borough councils of publishing a ‘purposefully biased’ and ‘misleading’ consultation on local government reorganization. |
Exclusive: Ministers set to reject social care trust plans
27/03/2025 Ministers are likely to reject plans for children’s or adult social care trusts that come as part of local government reorganisation (LGR), The MJ understands |
UNISON: Reorganisation must not be ‘cover for job cuts’
20/03/2025 The abolition of district councils as part of local government reorganisation puts thousands of frontline jobs at risk, says UNISON. |
