Government pauses LGR

In September, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Angela Rayner, announced that the Labour government’s former flagship local government reorganisation (LGR) reforms would be largely paused. This development happened in “light of new legal advice”. The proposals for Surrey are unaffected as they are already enshrined in law and the elections for the new shadow authorities for east and west Surrey have taken place. Under the government’s announcement, proposals to merge smaller councils to form larger authorities in Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk have been withdrawn whilst plans for 14 other areas, such as Sussex, will also be reviewed and paused.

Significantly, during her statement in the House of Commons, the secretary of state confirmed local elections in May 2027 would go ahead on existing council boundaries and not the previously redrawn ones. In her statement, she said: “I want to satisfy myself firstly that the right process is in place, that it is robust, and of course complies with the law”. She also wanted to fully test whether the proposals for LGR meet the priorities of a new administration and a new prime minister.

This change of policy comes in response to increasing discontent about LGR in numerous regions, and has included legal challenges over proposals to reorganise councils in Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The withdrawn proposals for these four areas could signify that the new administration is in listening mode or, more likely, to avoid losing the legal challenges. In areas such as Brighton and Hove, suspending LGR will be a surprise to many local councillors and will create more uncertainty about the future direction of local services. This is on top of the disruption LGR has already caused, and the huge costs incurred.

The secretary of state is expected to make a further announcement this month (October) about LGR. This is not expected to be major, probably moving forward on LGR in some non-contentious areas. Separately, there will also be an announcement on devolution this month, which may bring forward mayoral elections in some areas.