With the Labour governments top-down plans to restructure Lancashire's councils to create four new unitary councils being worked on by councillors, council officers - and even political parties as they were starting to identify and select their candidates - all is now on hold while the government applies its' brakes!
Today Angela Rayner MP announced that for Lancashire and other areas, the Local Government Reorganisation is now being 'reviewed and paused'.
In the Labour governments press release, they write:
Following updated and privileged legal advice, ministers will review plans for Local Government Reorganisation.
The review – which was announced by the Secretary of State in Parliament – includes decisions on Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, which have been withdrawn in light of new legal advice.
Plans for 14 other areas, [including Lancashire] along with Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and West Sussex, are also being reviewed and paused while this is carried out.
To reassure local leaders and communities while this review takes place, the government has confirmed that local elections in May 2027 will go ahead on existing council boundaries and remains committed to effective and sustainable local government and simplifying these structures.
As recent as July, council leaders were told that scheduled elections planned for May 2027 were scrapped and impacted councillors having their terms extended to May 2028 while a new 'shadow councils' were elected next year instead.
What a mess, but it's not going away. How it comes back after the Labour government's review is another matter.
Our test for council reorganisation:
1) Is this a genuine choice for local councils, and for local communities? Can councils choose not to engage in such restructuring? (as opposed to Whitehall compelling or punishing councils which don’t).
2) In two-tier areas, do both districts and counties agree with the principle of some form of restructuring? (as opposed to Whitehall only negotiating with one tier in two-tier areas).
3) Do a majority of local residents support the changes? Will local government be more accountable to local people, and will local people have a greater say on decisions which affect their lives?
4) Will any changes help keep council tax down? (as opposed to higher council taxes to pay for new structures). Will it improve local services and make them more responsive?
5) Will it avoid disruption of social care, given the demographic cost pressures that social care already faces, compounded by Labour’s National Insurance hikes?
