Local Government Reform – North Thames Region

There are two councils in the Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) in the North Thames region: Greater Essex and Norfolk and Suffolk. Both have submitted their approaches to local government reorganisation to MHCLG, and both are to submit detailed proposals by September.

All the other top-tier councils in the region which are not in the DPP also to have submit detailed proposals on LGR, but not until November.

This is the biggest reorganisation of local government since 1972 and involves the creation of combined authorities headed by elected mayors, and then a number of unitary authorities which encompass the previous district, borough, city, unitary and county councils.
The timing is for the DPP councils to hold mayoral elections in 2026, and then elections for the new unitary authorities in 2027. They would then work in ‘shadow’ for a year, taking over in May 2028. At this point, the existing councils would be abolished.

Norfolk & Suffolk

In Norfolk and Suffolk, the original agreement was for one unitary council in each county. But there was a split between what the county councils wanted and what the district and boroughs wanted, the latter seeking three unitaries across Norfolk, and two or three unitaries across Suffolk.

An East Norfolk unitary would include Great Yarmouth, Broadland, South Norfolk and the majority of north Norfolk councils, whereas Greater Norwich would encompass the existing city. The third unitary would be West Norfolk and include Breckland, King’s Lynn, West Norfolk and some north Norfolk county divisions.

In Suffolk, a three-unitary option could see a Greater Ipswich authority and then unitaries for East Suffolk and West Suffolk. A two-unitary solution would involve a simple east-west split.

Greater Essex

Devolution in Essex will see a combined authority created encompassing Essex County Council and the two existing unitary authorities of Thurrock and Southend. There is a huge debate as to whether there will be two, three, four or five new unitaries. With 15 existing councils, the permutations are huge. Ten of the councils have pinned their hopes on a five-unitary solution whereas the remaining councils (including Essex, Braintree, Epping and Harlow) are remaining open-minded, waiting to see the what the evidence says. The three-unitary solution seems favourite, although a four-unitary plan will probably be the compromise.

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire had the same political split with the Conservative-led county wanting one unitary and the mainly LibDem-led district and boroughs wanting more. The 11 Hertfordshire councils made a joint submission in March with a range of options with discussions ongoing – there could be two unitaries on an east-west split, but equally there could be a three or four unitary solution for the county.

Bedfordshire

Although Central Bedfordshire has said it is open to working with any and all interested local authorities to explore options, Bedford was hoping to join Luton and Milton Keynes to form a BLMK combined authority. None of these made it into the DPP but all have to make submissions in November.

Berkshire

West Berkshire may join Oxfordshire combined authority (with South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse), in which case Reading, which is already unitary, would want to expand to become Greater Reading. Again, none made the DPP so would need to submit detailed proposals to MHCLG by November.