Planned "shadow elections" to the new Ridgeway Council will now not go ahead in May next year
West Berkshire Council elections will take place instead.
Planned “shadow elections” to the new Ridgeway Council will now not go ahead in May next year, with West Berkshire Council elections taking place instead.
Angela Rayner, the housing secretary, announced a review of the LGR on Monday “in light of legal advice”, meaning the planned merger with Vale of White Horse and Oxfordshire is on hold indefinitely.
Political parties across West Berkshire will now have to accelerate polling plans – as they were not due to go to the polls until 2028.
Council finance chiefs will also be going back to the drawing board at the cash strapped council saying it is ‘too soon’ to know the consequences of jamming on the handbrake.
West Berkshire Council asked for Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from central government to balance its books and safeguard essential services amid unprecedented demands in social care, homelessness, and school transport.
The Government approved £20m in EFS for the 2025/26 financial year and an additional £30m for 2026/27.
As of the 2026/27 financial planning cycle, South Oxfordshire District Council holds an estimated total of £53.03m in usable balances and reserves.
West Berkshire Council says it could potentially save £59.8 million annually through the proposed local government reorganisation, so now it will be figuring out how to survive without it.
The representative body for councils in England has criticised the government’s “mishandling” of the Local Government Reorganisation process after it announced it was halting the plans.
A spokesperson for the Local Government Association (LGA) said the announcement will have caused “significant uncertainty, after councils have invested scarce public money and countless hours in the government’s LGR programme”.
“People’s jobs, lives and wider commitments have been affected,” the spokesperson said.
They added: “Staff, councillors and their families cannot be expected to put their lives on hold while ministers undertake a review which is a mess of their own making. Particularly at a time when local services remain under real pressure, this is no way to treat local government."
“Councils need certainty to plan how to deliver vital services to residents and meet demand pressures, and, as we said in July, their expert view needs to be embedded in LGR decision-making. Ministers must now set a clear timetable and ensure councils are not left to pick up the bill."
“This review must therefore be used by government to work in true partnership with councils to provide clarity in putting right its own mistakes. The LGA stands ready to use our power to convene our membership councils to ensure any future reform is shaped locally and based on what works for residents.”
The pause comes little over a month after the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that new councils will be created in 14 areas of England.
The LGR plans, which came about under Sir Keir Starmer’s administration, would have reorganised 134 councils into 38 unitary authorities by 2028.