Rutland residents to have say on reorganisation
14/02/2025 Rutland County Council has agreed to engage with residents on reorganisation plans before a proposal is submitted to the Government. |
Call for reorganisation support
14/02/2025 A senior sector figure has called for the Local Government Association (LGA) and Whitehall to offer education and training to those about to go through reorganisation. |
Slicing districts could slow reorganisation for fast-track areas
14/02/2025 Cutting across district boundaries to make new unitaries could create a backlog of legislation and boundary reviews that stymies the Government’s reorganisation timetable. |
London Councils pushes back on call to halve number of boroughs
12/02/2025 London Councils has hit back after the Taxpayers' Alliance campaign group called for the number of London boroughs to be halved. |
Council leaders welcome new combined authority
07/02/2025 Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority has now been formerly established, moving the area closer to unlocking a £400m investment fund. |
New Lancashire combined county authority launched
06/02/2025 The new Lancashire combined county authority has officially come into being. |
Learning from NHS digital transformation
05/02/2025 Justin Day, CEO and co-founder of Cloud Gateway, considers what local government devolution can learn from NHS digital transformation. |
Six areas chosen for devolution fast track
05/02/2025 Six new areas have been chosen to join the Government’s devolution priority programme. |
What is local government reorganisation?
04/02/2025 Local government reorganisation is the process of changing the structure, functions and responsibilities of councils. |
Medway bids for city status
31/01/2025 The leader of Medway Council has called on the Government to grant Medway city status to prevent reorganisation leading to a ‘significant loss of identity’. |
Government has no evidence to support ‘mega councils’, DCN says
31/01/2025 Freedom of Information requests have exposed an ‘alarming’ lack of evidence to support the creation of mega councils, according to the District Councils’ Network (DCN). |
Questions over financial impact of reorganisation
30/01/2025 Questions have been raised over whether the Government's approach to local government reorganisation will help resolve the financial crisis facing the sector. |
Districts warn against ‘mega councils’
24/01/2025 District councils are prepared to engage with local government reorganisation but warn against ‘rigidly insisting’ on a minimum population of 500,000. |
Mayor warns of creating 'behemoths'
22/01/2025 A mayor has warned of creating local government ‘behemoths' overburdened with responsibilities. |
Norwich councillors back unitary bid
22/01/2025 Norwich City Council members have voted in favour of pursuing unitary status as part of the Government’s efforts to reorganise local government. |
Lincolnshire leaders back local government shake up
22/01/2025 The leaders of three councils in Lincolnshire have proposed reducing the number of local authorities in the county from 10 to two. |
Council forced to rethink HQ refurb due to reorganisation plans
21/01/2025 The prospect of local government reorganisation in Hampshire has forced New Forest District Council to rethink a major refurbishment of its headquarters. |
Tewkesbury councillors advised to scrap name change
21/01/2025 Officers have recommended that Tewkesbury Borough Council abandons the process of changing its name after local government reorganisation plans were announced. |
Rebels with a cause
16/01/2025 The Local Government Association (LGA) has been warned some members could quit over its stance on reorganisation as it faces an internal rebellion. |
Ministry confirms 18 councils seeking election postponement
16/01/2025 The Government has officially revealed that it has received requests to postpone elections this year from 18 councils. |
Chiefs expecting pressure to spend ahead of reorganisation
15/01/2025 Council chiefs expect to come under intense pressure from leaders to sanction questionable spending before their authority is reorganised out of existence. |
Council leader calls for Woking BC debt ‘write off’
14/01/2025 The leader of Surrey County Council has urged the Government to ‘write off’ £1bn of Woking BC's debt to enable the creation of a unitary authority. |
LGA: Councils with ‘scarce resources’ need reorganisation support
13/01/2025 Councils that have bid to be on the fast-track for new devolution deals and reorganisation need extra funding and a quick decision on local elections, the LGA says. |
Fifteen county areas bid to fast-track devolution and reorganisation
10/01/2025 Fifteen county areas are bidding to be on Labour's fast-track for new devolution deals and local government reorganisation (LGR) with all applying to postpone May elections to make this possible. |
Voters ‘set to be deprived of local democracy’
10/01/2025 The District Councils’ Network has warned that millions of voters will be ‘deprived of their local democracy’ due to plans to postpone some county council elections. |
McMahon: No cap on devo priority programme
10/01/2025 There will be no cap on the number of areas included in the Government's devolution priority programme, a minister has said. |
Rayner rejects reorganisation 'distraction' claim
08/01/2025 Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has denied that local government reorganisation will impact on councils' ability to deliver services. |
Warwickshire urged not to request election delay
08/01/2025 Four district councils in Warwickshire have urged the county council not to request a delay to its local elections this year. |
Devon districts rally against unitarisation
07/01/2025 Devon’s eight district councils have joined forces to oppose the creation of a unitary authority for the county. |
Tories set five tests for restructuring
24/12/2024 The Conservatives have set five tests for local government restructure as they hit back at Labour attempts to ‘dictate' to councils over the move. |
Herts reorganisation threatens representation, leaders warn
24/12/2024 A single unitary council for Hertfordshire ‘risks diminishing local representation’, local leaders warn. |
Exeter to make unitary bid in local government reorganisation
23/12/2024 Exeter City Council is set to make an independent bid for unitary status under the Government’s reorganisation plans. |
CCN backs reorganisation
19/12/2024 The chair of the County Councils' Network (CCN), Tim Oliver, has backed radical Government plans to abolish dozens of local authorities by 2027. |
What councils would like for Christmas
17/12/2024 Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive of the LGIU, reflects on the English Devolution White Paper and considers what councils will be asking for this Christmas. |
Rayner to launch public sector rewire White Paper
16/12/2024 Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner will kick off a huge rewiring of public service reform with the launch of the devolution White Paper in Leeds later today. |
Call to break up Scotland’s largest council
12/12/2024 Highland Council members have called for the local authority, Scotland’s largest by geographical area, to be broken up. |
Councils brace for reorganisation push
25/11/2024 Six counties in the east of England are expected to be among those at the front of the queue for local government reorganisation, it has been reported. |
MPs call for the scrapping of 15 councils
25/11/2024 A group of Labour MPs have called for the abolition of Lancashire’s 15 councils in a bid to simplify local government in the county. |
DCN: Reorganisation risks ‘paralysing’ front line services
31/10/2024 Local government reorganisation poses a threat to front line services and represents the ‘opposite of devolution’, district council leaders have warned. |
Budget: Reorganisation confirmed in high tax, high spend Budget
30/10/2024 Local government reorganisation – and the efficiency savings it will make – were confirmed in Budget documents today. |
EXCLUSIVE: Government to launch full reorganisation
28/10/2024 Plans for full local government reorganisation could be mooted as soon as this week's Budget, The MJ understands. |
Councils call on Government to 'back up its rhetoric' on devolution
04/10/2024 Councils have called for the Government to ‘back up its rhetoric' by devolving powers across England. |
Future Forum Midlands: Clark points to reorganisation for sector
16/09/2024 Former communities secretary Greg Clark has said local government reorganisation should follow the creation of combined authorities. |
The challenges of local government reorganisation
16/09/2024 Guy Clifton, director, Local Government Value for Money, Grant Thornton UK LLP looks at reorganisation lessons from recently established unitary councils. |
North Yorkshire aims to build 500 council homes
20/05/2024 North Yorkshire Council has published its first housing strategy, which includes an ambition to build 500 council homes over five years. |
Cumberland working to reduce ‘escalating costs’
26/09/2023 Cumberland Council says it is working hard to control ‘escalating costs’, but it is facing a potential overspend of £17.5m. |
Manchester 'frustrated' at pace of devolution
08/06/2023 Manchester’s leader has said there is ‘a long way to go’ to meet the city’s devolution ambitions. |
New unitary councils set to launch
29/03/2023 New unitary councils being launched this weekend are planning to improve and develop services for their communities. |
Lincolnshire districts back unitary idea
28/03/2023 A partnership of three district councils has backed the idea of becoming a unitary to help secure a Lincolnshire-wide devolution deal. |
Drop national care plan, say Scottish councils
05/01/2023 Council leaders in Scotland have called for their Government’s plans for a new national care service to be dropped. |
Lincolnshire in mayoral devolution deal push
21/12/2022 Lincolnshire’s upper-tier councils are to press for a devolution deal including an elected mayor. |
Transformation stalled at unitary's planning service, peers find
19/12/2022 ‘Widespread dissatisfaction’ with enforcement has been uncovered by a peer review of a new unitary council’s planning service. |
Structural change not a cure-all for children's services
11/07/2022 Structural change alone is not enough to turn around children’s services, a new report has found. |
Plans for new unitary council in Cumbria confirmed
16/06/2022 The executive for the shadow authority for Cumberland Council have confirmed the implementation plan for the new local authority. |
Cumbria drops legal challenge to reorganisation
28/02/2022 Cumbria CC has decided to drop its legal challenge after losing its second High Court bid for a judicial review of local government reorganisation. |
Cumbria council loses second bid to stop reorganisation
23/02/2022 Cumbria CC is ‘considering its next steps’ after losing its second High Court bid for a judicial review of the decision to create two unitary authorities. |
Cumbria continues legal battle against reorganisation
26/01/2022 The county council is opposed to the Government’s decision to replace the county council and six district councils with two unitaries. |
MP opposes 'undemocratic' council merger
21/12/2021 The proposed merger of two district councils has been labelled ‘undemocratic’ by a local MP. |
Leaked White Paper reveals reorganisation master plan
09/12/2021 A leaked version of the Levelling Up White Paper has revealed plans to scrap two-tier local government in England. |
County areas chase devo dream
17/08/2021 County areas are lining up to strike one of the first tranche of devolution deals. |
Jenrick announces unitary deals
22/07/2021 North Yorkshire and Somerset County Councils have been given the go ahead to become single unitary councils, while Cumbria will be carved in two. |
Commission calls for funding re-set for local government
20/07/2021 Local government needs a ‘funding floor’, set at an agreed percentage of national income, a report on the future of the sector has said. |
Lincolnshire districts join forces in new partnership
18/06/2021 Three Lincolnshire district councils have announced they will form a new strategic partnership. |
Navigating local government reorganisation - smoothing service integration
09/06/2021 Steve White looks at how councils can best navigate the complex issues around local government reorganisation and IT. |
Controversial Somerset poll backs district plan
07/06/2021 A controversial poll on reorganisation in Somerset has come out in favour of a district-based proposal. |
Devolution must focus on economy, says think-tank
06/05/2021 Devolution needs to focus on rebuilding the economy rather than local government reorganisation, a think-tank has claimed. |
Tear down devolution 'barriers,' APPG urges
09/03/2021 Powers should be devolved to councils before reorganisation takes place, a new report has concluded. |
Basildon and Thurrock consider merger
11/02/2021 Council leaders are drawing up a memorandum of understanding including the option of forming a South West Essex Council. |
Councils propose ‘super-district’
02/02/2021 Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick DCs have revealed proposals to merge by 2024. |
Combined authority expansion halted by ‘party politics’
09/11/2020 The expansion of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) has stalled after leaders failed to reach an agreement. |
Reorganisation battle lines drawn over think-tank report
20/10/2020 The bitter war of words between counties and districts over reorganisation stepped up this week as battle lines were drawn around a new think-tank report. |
Three areas invited to submit unitary proposals
09/10/2020 The Government has today invited councils in three areas to submit proposals for the creation of unitary local authorities by April 2023. |
DCN: Bigger local government is ‘not better or cheaper’
01/09/2020 Proposals for county unitary councils would be 122 times larger than the average council in Germany, a new report by the District Councils’ Network (DCN) warns today. |
Countywide unitaries ‘could save £3bn’
27/08/2020 Replacing two-tier counties with one unitary authority could deliver almost £3bn savings over five years, according to research published by the County Councils Network (CCN) today. |
Three districts table Gloucestershire devolution proposals
27/08/2020 Three of Gloucestershire’s district councils have proposed creating two unitary authorities in the county. |
Ministers to receive Somerset unitary business case
31/07/2020 A business case for a single Somerset unitary has been sent to communities secretary Robert Jenrick and local government minister Simon Clarke. |
Reorganisation will deter potential councillors, report warns
24/07/2020 Local government unitary reorganisation will slash the number of councillors and deter many from standing for election, a report for the District Councils’ Network (DCN) has warned. |
Race for reorganisation gathers pace in Surrey and Somerset
10/07/2020 The race towards reorganisation is gaining pace more plans emerging in Somerset and Surrey. |
Javid urges reorganisation and devolution post-COVID
23/06/2020 Council tax reform and local government reorganisation should both play a part in the post COVID economic recovery, former communities secretary Sajid Javid has said. |
Reorganisation fears overshadow devolution talks
10/03/2020 Concerns over local government reorganisation are marring devolution talks in the north-west. |
Borough seeking unitary status sparks spending row
03/02/2020 A row over council spending has broken out between a county council and a borough authority that is seeking unitary status. |
Kettering to create town council
20/01/2020 A new town council is to be created as part of local government reorganisation in Northamptonshire. |
Northamptonshire unitaries to save £86m
09/01/2020 Local government reorganisation in Northamptonshire will cost just over £40m, according to the early official estimates. |
Reorganisation in Somerset would 'cut waste and save money'
08/01/2020 A single, unitary authority for Somerset would deliver a predicted saving of £35-£47m, according to new research. |
Northants reorganisation stalled amid election
08/11/2019 Plans to reorganise cash-strapped Northamptonshire County Council have stalled amid the general election. |
Call for leader to quit after 'repeated failures'
05/06/2019 Shadow local government secretary Andrew Gwynne has called for Northamptonshire CC leader, Matt Golby, to quit after ‘repeated failures’ in the council’s children’s services. |
Delay to Northamptonshire reorganisation welcomed
14/05/2019 Council leaders have welcomed the year-long delay to plans to create two new unitaries in Northamptonshire. |
Oxfordshire councils to extend joint working arrangements
16/04/2019 Two councils are considering extending their working partnership in a move they hope will trigger a ‘broader conversation’ on local government organisation. |
Corby calls for delay on Northants reorganisation
08/01/2019 Corby BC has called for the creation of new unitary authorities to be pushed back, claiming there is not enough time to reorganise Northamptonshire’s public services. |
2018 - the year things began to change
21/12/2018 Geed up by a spirit of entrepreneurialism, councils up and down the land were busy exploring new ways to respond to their communities in 2018. |
Nottinghamshire CC abandons reorganisation plan
12/12/2018 Nottinghamshire County Council has decided to drop its reorganisation plans, which the leadership had hoped would save the authority millions each year. |
Nottinghamshire considers unitary authority plans to save £27m per year
06/12/2018 Nottinghamshire councillors will decide next week whether they wish to hold a consultation on plans to create a unitary authority to deliver savings. |
Single unitary council for Bucks gets the go-ahead
01/11/2018 Buckinghamshire’s five councils are to be scrapped in favour of a single county-wide unitary, communities secretary James Brokenshire has announced. |
Dorset council merger could cost extra £400,000
10/10/2018 Setting up one of two new unitary councils in Dorset could cost at least £400,000, councillors have been warned. |
Two unitary plan for Northants
17/08/2018 Two unitary councils could be created in Northamptonshire under proposals unveiled. |
Christchurch agrees not to appeal Dorset reorganisation
14/08/2018 Christchurch Borough Council has agreed not to continue its legal fight against local government reorganisation in Dorset. |
Christchurch reorganisation challenge defeated
07/08/2018 Christchurch BC may launch an appeal after a High Court judge today refused its challenge to local government reorganisation plans. |
Council’s legal challenge to Dorset reorganisation to proceed to High Court
22/06/2018 Christchurch Borough Council has been given permission to take its case against local government reorganisation in Dorset to the High Court. |
Scrap all districts says Heseltine
05/06/2018 District councils should be scrapped and 60 unitary counties created instead across England led by directly-elected mayors according to former Cabinet minister Lord Heseltine |
Welsh reorganisation consultation deadline approaches
29/05/2018 The Welsh Government today urged people to contribute to the debate over the green paper, which aims to create larger councils that it says would be stronger. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.