Contents

Summary 6

1 Government reorganisation policy 8

1.1 What is local government reorganisation? 8

1.2 Proposals in the 2024 white paper 8

1.3 What is the government’s rationale for reorganising local authorities? 9

Saving money 9

Reducing duplication 9

Improving local services 10

2 The procedure 11

2.1 Legal requirements 11

Changes in the English Devolution Bill 11

Referendums 11

2.2 Timetable for proposals 12

2.3 Timetable for implementation 13

2.4 Criteria for new unitary authorities 14

Weighting the criteria 14

The population criterion 14

Implications for other authorities 15

2.5 Will the new unitary authorities build on existing council boundaries? 16

3 Proposals 18

3.1 Proposals submitted 18

Surrey 19

Devolution Priority Programme areas 20

All other two-tier areas 20

3.2 Analysis of the proposals 21

4 Government decisions 22

4.1 Devolution Priority Programme areas 22

Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock 22

Hampshire / Isle of Wight 23

Norfolk 23

Suffolk 23

Sussex 24

4.2 Features of the accepted proposals 24

5 Postponement of elections 26

5.1 Why are elections being postponed? 26

Postponements in previous reorganisation processes 26

5.2 Which elections were postponed in May 2025? 27

5.3 Elections scheduled for May 2026: postponement and reinstatement 28

Reinstatement of 2026 elections 30

Double postponements 31

Criticism of the abandoned 2026 postponements 32

6 Financial savings 35

6.1 Will reorganisation save money? 35

6.2 How will reorganisation be funded? 36

Local Government Finance Settlement 37

7 Effects of the reorganisation 39

7.1 Debates and referendums 39

Shropshire, 2007 39

Durham, 2007 40

Somerset, 2007 40

Christchurch, 2017 40

Somerset, 2021 40

7.2 Decision making in advance of reorganisation 41

7.3 Councillor numbers 42

7.4 Parish and town councils 43

7.5 Council tax harmonisation 44

7.6 Stakeholder views on reorganisation 45

Dual running 47

Appendix 48