Local Government Reorganisation

Thursday 18th December 2025 Written Statements

[The Minister for Local Government and Homelessness (Alison McGovern)]

This Government are determined to streamline local government by replacing the current two-tier system with new single-tier unitary councils, ending the wasteful two-tier premium. We are progressing this landmark reform at pace, which will be vital in delivering our vision: stronger local councils equipped to drive economic growth, improve local public services and empower their communities.

I am fully committed to ensuring that councils can deliver new, sustainable structures within this Parliament.

Milestones

We have already reached a number of key milestones, not least the Secretary of State’s decision to implement two new unitary councils in Surrey. We have now received proposals from all 20 remaining invitation areas.

A consultation is currently open on 17 of those proposals from six invitation areas, and I expect to launch a consultation in early February on proposals from the remaining 14 areas that seek to meet the terms of the 5 February statutory invitation. That consultation would be for seven weeks.

I remain committed to the indicative timetable, published in July, that sees elections to new councils in May 2027 and those councils going live in April 2028. This is a complex process, and we will take decisions based on the evidence provided.

Local views

We have listened to councils telling us about the constraints they are operating within, and the work that reorganisation introduces on top of existing challenges. Now that we have received all proposals, it is only right that the Secretary of State listens to councils that are expressing concerns about their capacity to deliver a smooth and safe transition to new councils, alongside running resource-intensive elections to councils that may be shortly abolished. We have also received representations from councils concerned about the cost to taxpayers of holding elections to councils that it is proposed will shortly be abolished.

Previous Governments have postponed local elections in areas contemplating and undergoing local government reorganisation, to allow councils to focus their time and energy on the process. We have now received requests from multiple councils to postpone their local elections in May 2026. The Secretary of State recognises that capacity will vary between councils.

And that is why the Secretary of State has reached the position that, in his view, councils are in the best position to judge the impact of potential postponements on their area and, in the spirit of devolution and trusting local leaders, this Government will listen to them.

We are therefore inviting councils today to set out their views on the postponement of local elections in their area and whether they consider that postponement would release essential capacity to deliver local government reorganisation. We have asked for representations by no later than midnight on 15 January. For those that have already made their views known, he will be taking these into account.

The Secretary of State has adopted a locally-led approach. He is clear that should a council say that it has no reason for postponement, then we will listen to it. But if a council voices genuine concerns about its capacity, then we will take those concerns seriously.

To that end, the Secretary of State is minded only to make an order to postpone elections for one year for those councils that raise capacity concerns.

Next steps

The Secretary of State will consider all the material received in relation to each council.

I appreciate that preparations for elections may have started in some places, and that councils will be keen to have certainty, which we will deliver as soon as possible.

I will continue to update the House on this and other milestones as we seek to deliver this vital programme. I will deposit the letter I have sent to council leaders in the House Library, and it is also being published on gov.uk today. A full list of councils in scope follows:

Adur district council; Basildon borough council; Basingstoke and Deane borough council; Blackburn with Darwen council; Brentwood borough council; Broxbourne borough council; Burnley borough council; Cambridge city council; Cannock Chase district council; Cheltenham borough council; Cherwell district council; Chorley borough council; City of Lincoln council; Colchester city council; Crawley borough council; East Sussex county council; Eastleigh borough council; Epping Forest district council; Essex county council; Exeter city council; Fareham borough council; Gosport borough council; Hampshire county council; Harlow district council; Hart district council; Hastings borough council; Havant borough council; Huntingdonshire district council; Hyndburn borough council; Ipswich borough council; Isle of Wight council; Newcastle-under-Lyme borough council; Norfolk county council; North East Lincolnshire council, Norwich city council; Nuneaton and Bedworth borough council; Oxford city council; Pendle borough council; Peterborough city council; Plymouth city council; Portsmouth city council; Preston city council; Redditch borough council; Rochford district council; Rugby borough council; Rushmoor borough council; South Cambridgeshire district council; Southampton city council; Southend-on-Sea city council; St Albans city and district council; Stevenage borough council; Suffolk county council; Tamworth borough council; Three Rivers district council; Thurrock council; Tunbridge Wells borough council; Watford borough council; Watford borough council mayor; Welwyn Hatfield borough council; West Lancashire borough council; West Oxfordshire district council; West Sussex county council; Winchester city council; and Worthing borough council.

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