Councils click into the future of planning
In town halls across the country, planning officers are racing to update their Local Plans — but this time, the process looks very different.
London’s boroughs call for ‘seat at the table’ in devo settlement
03/04/2025 London’s councils have called for joint decision-making arrangements between the mayor and the capital’s boroughs as part of a new devolution settlement. |
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. |
One unitary in Worcestershire could save £20m a year
20/03/2025 Replacing Worcestershire's seven councils with a single unitary authority could save more than £20m a year, according to a new report. |
Warwickshire councils signal preference for two unitaries
19/03/2025 There is a ‘clear preference’ for a north and south unitary option among district and borough councils in Warwickshire, says district council leader. |
Notts leader backs ‘city + 2’ reorganisation model
18/03/2025 The leader of Nottingham City Council has backed proposals that would see the authority merge with two other councils. |
Exeter reorganisation could see city expand to over 300,000
18/03/2025 Exeter could dramatically expand from a population of 130,000 to over 300,000 under the city council’s local government reorganisation proposals. |
East Midlands mayor suggests LGA not the right 'fit'
17/03/2025 East Midlands mayor Claire Ward has said the Local Government Association ‘might not be' the place where combined and strategic authorities ‘fit'. |
Hampshire hits reorganisation deadlock
14/03/2025 No decision will be made on the number of unitaries that will cover Hampshire and the Solent ahead of the deadline for interim reorganisation plans. |
Minister: 500,000 figure for unitaries an 'average'
13/03/2025 Jim McMahon has said a population size of 500,000 could end up as the ‘average' when unitary government is completed across the country. |
Frustrated mayors delay campaign on fiscal devo
13/03/2025 Labour mayors frustrated by the lack of fiscal devolution are holding back from stepping up their lobbying, The MJ understands. |
DCN: Government’s reorganisation plans risk ‘dysfunctionality’
13/03/2025 Local government reorganisation could ‘create larger versions of dysfunctionality’ and fail to bring about the public service reform required, report claims. |
Suffolk councils oppose unitary plans
12/03/2025 Suffolk’s district and borough council leaders have joined forces to oppose plans published by Suffolk County Council for a single unitary authority. |
Two unitary plan for Lincolnshire
12/03/2025 Plans to merge Lincolnshire's 10 councils into two unitary authorities have been published. |
Plan calls for Isle of Wight to retain own council in reorganisation
11/03/2025 The Isle of Wight should remain ‘as is’ as part of the overhaul of local government, according to the first draft of a devolution plan. |
Derbyshire councils agree plans for two unitary authorities
10/03/2025 Local authorities in Derbyshire have agreed on a draft plan to create two unitary councils covering the north and south of the county. |
CCN: Splitting up social care could cost £500m a year
07/03/2025 The annual cost of splitting up social care services into multiple smaller councils could exceed half a billion pounds, says County Councils' Network (CCN). |
EXCLUSIVE: Stretched capacity slows pace of reorganisation
07/03/2025 Small unitary councils are to be spared reorganisation until the map has been redrawn in two-tier areas, local government minister Jim McMahon has told The MJ. |
Survey reveals scepticism reorganisation will fix council finances
05/03/2025 A survey of senior council figures has revealed widespread scepticism that reorganisation will fix local finances while many warn of more bankruptcies. |
Cornwall rejection fails to stop strategic authority plan
04/03/2025 Devon, Plymouth and Torbay are pushing forward with plans to create a mayoral strategic authority after being rebuffed by Cornwall. |
City and county clash over reorganisation plans
28/02/2025 Staffordshire CC has teed up a clash with Stoke-on-Trent City Council by proposing a county unitary covering a population of 876,000. |
Call for devolution beyond England
28/02/2025 The Government has faced a call to extend its English devolution agenda to Scotland. |
Leicestershire pushes for 'transparent' talks with districts on reorganisation
27/02/2025 District councils have ‘excluded' Leicestershire CC from meetings and discussions about future plans for 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 leaders seek new deal with Khan
07/02/2025 London borough leaders have demanded more formal influence over powers devolved to the capital. |
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. |
Edinburgh tourism tax could be starting point for fiscal devolution, experts suggest
20/01/2025 The approach to a tourism tax being taken forward in Scottish and Welsh cities could be a starting point for fiscal devolution in England, experts suggest. |
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. |
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. |
Elections in limbo as devo deadline looms
06/01/2025 County councils across England will decide this week whether to ask the Government to postpone this year's elections in order to reorganise and pursue devolution. |
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. |
Devolution revolution: Practical next steps for local authorities
20/12/2024 After a flurry of announcements affecting local government in the build-up to Christmas, councils must ensure they’re ready to get ahead of the curve in the New Year. Laura Hughes, partner at Browne Jacobson, offers some advice on this front. |
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. |
Council delays name change
13/12/2024 Tewkesbury Borough Council has pushed back changing its name amid delays to the Government’s devolution white paper. |
South East councils on brink of ‘crisis’
04/12/2024 The local government system in the South East of England is on ‘the brink of looming crisis’, according to a think-tank. |
Devolution would help skills 'mismatch' - report
03/12/2024 Government should give local areas greater powers over skills to address the ‘mismatch' of people needed for future industries, Birmingham Uni has urged. |
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. |
Elected mayor 'stumbling block' warning
21/11/2024 Ministers' insistence on a directly-elected mayor is ‘fast appearing on the horizon as a major stumbling block for English devolution', expert warns. |
Suffolk talks devo with minister
19/11/2024 Suffolk CC's leader has said he remains committed to devolution in the county ‘streamlining local government' following a meeting with minister Jim McMahon. |
London mayor calls for Right to Buy devolution
18/11/2024 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has called on the Government to devolve control over Right to Buy to the capital. |
Call for new cultural powers for mayors
05/11/2024 Mayors in England should be handed significant new powers and responsibilities over the creative, cultural and heritage life of their regions, according to a new report. |
Budget: Authorities to get single funding settlements
30/10/2024 The Government has announced the first six authorities eligible to receive single funding settlements. |
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. |
Fresh round of devolution talks for Norfolk launched
11/10/2024 A fresh round of devolution talks between Norfolk County Council and the Government was launched this week following a decision to halt an earlier £600m deal. |
Mayors can relieve council pressures, says report
09/10/2024 Mayoral combined authorities (MCAs) can help with long-standing policy challenges in public services as well as boosting economic growth, a think-tank has argued. |
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. |
LGA calls for devolution of retrofit funding
30/09/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) has urged the Government to use the Autumn Budget to devolve all funding for retrofitting social and fuel poor homes to councils. |
Staffordshire leaders kick off devolution conversation
30/09/2024 Council leaders across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have written to the Government to begin a conversation about devolution. |
Wessex councils join forces for devolution
30/09/2024 Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire councils are set to submit expressions of interest in devolution in response to a request from the Government. |
Further devolution needed to drive energy efficiency measures
25/09/2024 Devolution of funding is needed so that mayoral combined authorities can take the lead in delivering energy efficiency upgrades to homes, a new report says. |
Rayner confirms four devolution agreements
19/09/2024 Four devolution agreements have been signed off in what the secretary of state for local government describes as ‘only the first step’ of a devolution drive. |
'Financial emergency' council advised to join combined authority
16/09/2024 North Somerset Council will consider entering talks to join the West of England Combined Authority. |
Labour scraps counties' devo deals
13/09/2024 Norfolk and Suffolk CCs have revealed the new Labour Government has scrapped the directly-elected county leader devolution deals agreed with the Conservatives. |
Cheshire and Warrington councils talk devolution
05/09/2024 Local authorities in Cheshire and Warrington have made some ‘positive’ steps along the road to devolution. |
Gough: Local government under water
04/09/2024 ‘Big changes' to tackle the ‘structural problems' facing local government are needed to help councils survive but ‘priority' is devolution, Kent leader says. |
Fiscal devolution could lead to greater inequalities, warns IFS
03/09/2024 Devolution must come with reform of council funding allocations or it could worsen inequalities, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think-tank has warned. |
Think-tank calls for £6bn devolution to tackle economic inactivity
02/09/2024 A think-tank has argued that the Government should transfer £6bn to local government in a bid to tackle economic inactivity. |
Six club together for South Midlands devolution
27/08/2024 Steps are being taken towards forming a devolution proposal covering six councils in the South Midlands. |
Cheshire devolution talks gain pace
19/08/2024 A partnership of three Cheshire councils is said to have emerged as an ‘early candidate’ for accelerated talks on devolution with the new Government. |
Devolution deals in limbo as new proposals emerge
14/08/2024 Work is underway on a flurry of new devolution proposals despite a string of deals remaining in limbo. |
Government urged to devolve council tax powers
31/07/2024 The Government should devolve the power to fix council tax rates to local authorities, a think-tank has urged. |
McMahon: Existing devolution deals may be improved
26/07/2024 Local government minister Jim McMahon has said it is down to the Government to make devolution ‘attractive enough' for councils. |
Devolution ‘essential’ to Labour's growth mission
25/07/2024 Devolution reforms will be essential if Labour is to fulfil its mission of nationwide growth, a new report has argued. |
South East Councils calls for ‘seat’ at the devolution table
24/07/2024 Councils in the South East of England have written to the Government voicing concerns that they could be at a disadvantage in the ‘devolution revolution’. |
Minister voices concern over districts' role in devolution
22/07/2024 District councils should be handed a greater role in devolution talks, a minister has said. |
King's Speech: Devolution takes centre stage
17/07/2024 The announcement of an English Devolution Bill took centre stage in the King's Speech. |
King's Speech: A plan for devolution
17/07/2024 The new Labour Government has set out a widespread plan for devolution and economic growth in its Parliamentary timetable, with central diktat reserved for planning proposals. |
Taking Back Control: Why climate action needs devolution
17/07/2024 Christopher Hammond, UK100 chief executive and former council leader, argues that devolution is essential for tackling climate change. |
Rayner promises ‘new devolution revolution’
16/07/2024 Angela Rayner will today write to local leaders urging them to work with Government on delivering ‘the most ambitious programme of devolution' ever seen. |
Rayner: Labour ready to ‘transfer power out of Whitehall’
09/07/2024 Deputy PM Angela Rayner is set to tell regional mayors that Labour is ready to ‘transfer power out of Whitehall’ through a major programme of devolution. |
Mayor tells Labour to ‘commit’ to the Northern Powerhouse
08/07/2024 The new Labour Government should ‘commit early to the Northern Powerhouse’, says the mayor of Greater Manchester. |
Fresh calls for fiscal devo
04/07/2024 Backers of fiscal devolution have urged the government elected today to reconsider the policy despite their lobbying failing to get it mentioned in the manifestos. |
NextGov: Devolutionary road
24/06/2024 Jonathan Werran, the chief executive of think-tank Localis, discusses what the next government should do to extend devolution. |
Manchester legend Sir Howard Bernstein dies
22/06/2024 Former chief executive of Manchester City Council, Sir Howard Bernstein, has died, aged 71. |
Warnings over Labour devolution drive
20/06/2024 A Labour drive to fill in the devolution map will take time and energy away from deepening devolution in areas that have already secured deals, expert warns. |
Birmingham councillor becomes West Midlands deputy mayor
17/06/2024 The deputy leader of Birmingham City Council has been appointed as the deputy mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). |
‘Existential crisis’ for councils as £6bn funding gap revealed
06/06/2024 A new Local Government White Paper has uncovered a £6.2bn funding gap facing councils in England over the next two years. |
