Government delays nine of 14 planned council mergers in England

The government has withdrawn nine of the 14 council mergers it had planned in England, and five will go ahead. Local Government Minister Jim McMahon announced the change in a Commons statement on 29 October, according to BBC News.

The mergers would combine smaller councils into larger single-tier councils, known as unitary authorities, in place of the two-tier system, where county and district councils share local services. The government's stated aim is to end two-tier local government in this way. The five areas where the work will continue are East Sussex, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

The nine areas now withdrawn for further review are Derbyshire, Devon, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire. Mr McMahon told MPs that the government was "withdrawing the decisions announced in July" for those areas, with the aim of seeking "legal clarity".

Local Government Secretary Angela Rayner had put the proposals on hold over concerns about legal challenges. Mr McMahon said a review had found the government's decision-making to be "robust".

The review will also cover Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, where merger plans were withdrawn in September. The Essex proposal would have abolished 15 councils and replaced them with five unitary councils. Cambridgeshire and West Sussex are still waiting for their plans to be agreed, which leaves 15 areas with reorganisation plans undecided.

Mr McMahon committed to update the House on another set of areas by Christmas. He said every area will have an outcome by early next year. Local elections in May 2027 will go ahead on existing council boundaries. Elections to shadow councils, which will run for a year before taking over, are due in May 2028.