Essex council restructure scrapped
The Government will halt work on the reorganisation in Essex due to “new legal advice”.
Plans that would have seen every single Essex council changed has been scrapped. The plans were initially in place which would replace the 15 existing county, district, and borough councils in Greater Essex with five new, all-purpose “unitary” authorities.
The Government has said the decision to halt work on the local government reorganisation (LGR) in Essex has been taken on “new legal advice”. The decision has been welcomed by the leader of Essex County Council Reform Councillor Peter Harris who was given the go ahead to initiate legal proceedings against the government in July.
The new Reform administration at Essex County Council (ECC) is opposed to the change arguing it is “ill-thought out” and will ‘risk widening the gap between residents and their representatives and cause unnecessary disruption to key services – most notably adult social care and children’s services.’
These are currently run by the three top tier councils of Essex County Council , Southend and Thurrock. But after local government reform each unitary would be responsible for adult social care and children’s services in their patch.
Councillor Peter Harris said: “As a direct response to the legal action that this Reform administration has taken, the government have just announced they are shelving local government re-organisation. That means we will be able to spend tens of millions of pounds more on public services which is exactly why we got elected in the first place.
“We stood up to government and we won. This is not just a victory for this administration but it is a victory to every single member of the public in Essex.”
Councils in greater Essex have been working towards organising the 14 local authorities – made of the three top tiers of Essex County Council, Southend Borough Council and Thurrock Council along with 12 lower tier districts – into five unitary councils
The restructuring was scheduled to take full effect in April 2028, with elections for the shadow authorities scheduled for May 2027. Cllr Harris added: “This unwanted, unnecessary and financially unhinged reorganisation of Essex’s councils is over. At lunchtime today we received a letter from the government lawyers telling us that, facing a judicial review brought by Essex County Council, they have caved in.
“Thanks to us standing up to the government, we’ve succeeded today in saving local taxpayers millions in spending that would have delivered a new system of councils which the government have admitted, as a result of today’s announcement, was wrong. We were not against change, but we were against the government’s plan for five new councils.
“Now we’ve succeeded in curtailing the government’s plans, we can now get back to what residents elected us to do – reforming Essex, providing the best possible services at the lowest possible cost.“
Leader of the Tory group at ECC Councillor Lee Scott said he did not think the five unitary model was viable anyway. He said: “Putting forward five unitary councils was never going to work. It was never going to be financially viable.”
He added “It was ludicrous to think we’d be ready to go ahead for the unitary elections next May. I haven’t thought that was going to happen for a long while.”
He added: “I think the government has to look at local government funding because there is a cliff-edge. There are councils which are going to be in severe financial difficulty and we do have to look at adult and children’s social services and special educational needs and disabilities and how it’s funded. However, five was not the answer. It wasn’t going to solve the problem.”
But there was frustration at the time and money spent as well as how opportunity for the five unitary model – with claims of support for it- were being lost.
Lib Dem leader of Chelmsford City Council Councillor Stephen Robinson said: “I thought our proposals for Essex were sound and had broad public support and three quarters of all the councils in Essex had broad support for the proposals.
“The government says they want LGR to go ahead. If they carried on then our proposals make sense and should have been allowed to carry on as planned rather than creating yet more uncertainty.”
He added: “If the government is determined to press ahead with LGR, which they said they are, then it would be better to get on with it rather than further delay.
“We’ve already put a lot of officer and member time into preparing for the change. A lot of work has already gone on behind the scenes over the last three months because we were told there’s no time to waste and get on with it.”
He added: “I am immensely frustrated. I just wish the government knew what they were doing.” The government has confirmed local elections in May 2027 will go ahead on existing council boundaries.
The government’s Rewiring the State White Paper on devolution will also set out plans to rewire the country and ensure effective and sustainable local government in future.
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner is expected to tell Parliament today: “As we are now more determined than ever to devolve power closer to the people we represent, it’s only right that as a new Secretary of State I make sure that everything we do is working towards that plan to change Britain, without delay.
“The Prime Minister told the House last week, he was ‘prepared to look at local government reorganisation’ and he asked me as his Communities Secretary to ‘do that’.
“In that context, in light of legal advice, I want to satisfy myself firstly that the right process is in place, that it is robust, and of course complies with the law. And secondly, I want to fully test whether our proposals for local government reorganisation meet the priorities of a new administration and a new Prime Minister and any additional considerations.
“ I do not take this lightly. I recognise the huge amount of work that has already gone into progressing reorganisation in each of these areas, and I am very grateful for it.”