Councillors in Nottingham will have the chance to discuss proposals for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire at an upcoming Full Council meeting.
A report published on 31 October 2025 ahead of Nottingham City Council’s Full Council – a meeting of all 55 elected councillors – on 10 November, outlines proposals being considered for LGR in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
The discussion will focus on Nottingham’s preferred option – a boundary review model. This looks at the current boundaries, the communities within them, and the services they access to see whether they work well or whether new boundaries may work better.
Councillor Neghat Khan, Leader of Nottingham City Council, said:
“The reality is that the current city boundaries – set in 1997 – don’t reflect the ‘real’ Nottingham.
“While our official population is 328,000, the built-up area of our city contains over 750,000 people, many of whom call Nottingham home. We can’t let outdated boundaries or political preferences dictate what is right for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
“We need to set a boundary for the next 50 years, but this isn’t something that can be done behind closed doors; it’s about transparent decisions, which is why we’re taking this report to Full Council.
“We’ve been out to the public to hear their views, and now it’s time to hear from the elected representatives of our communities, to give them the opportunity to contribute to our final submission.”
Cllr Khan previously outlined why the City Council has decided to move forward with a boundary review model in this article.
However, the decision to launch a local government reorganisation process was taken by central government, which wrote to local authorities in February, formally asking them to submit proposals to create new structures of ‘unitary authorities’ – a single tier of local government responsible for all local services in an area. The aim is to create more efficient and effective local government, potentially leading to streamlined services and cost savings.
Currently, council services in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are delivered differently, depending on where you live.
In Nottinghamshire, local services are delivered under what is known as a ‘two-tier’ council structure. Nottinghamshire County Council oversees county-wide services such as social care, education, and road maintenance, while several smaller district and borough councils are responsible for more localised services, including waste collection and leisure centres.
Nottingham City Council operates as a ‘unitary authority’, meaning it provides all council services within the city of Nottingham.
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Under LGR, all nine existing local authorities would be abolished to create new unitary councils with a higher population of residents.
It is proposed that two new unitary councils should be created for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire to replace the current nine.
The views shared at the Full Council meeting on 10 November 2025 will feed into the development of final proposals, which must be submitted to the government by 28 November 2025.
The government will then review proposals before making a final decision on the LGR option for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire – as well as other council areas across England – in the summer of 2026.
