Nottinghamshire’s local government reorganisation is expected to be paused and reviewed after the government received updated legal advice.
- Review launched into plans to streamline local government following legal advice, to ensure it is robust and aligns with new government priorities
- Part of Prime Minister’s determination to rewire the state and shift power into the hands of local communities to drive good growth in every postcode
- Decisions on reorganisation in Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk withdrawn
- Plans for 14 further areas announced will also be reviewed, alongside the two areas yet to be confirmed – Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and West Sussex
A review of plans to streamline local government is set to be announced later today (7th September) to ensure the process is robust and aligns with the new government’s plans to rewire the state.
Following updated and privileged legal advice, ministers will review plans for Local Government Reorganisation.
The review – which will be announced by the Secretary of State later today in Parliament – will include decisions on Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, which have been withdrawn in light of new legal advice.
Plans for 14 other areas, along with Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and West Sussex, will also be reviewed and paused while this is carried out.
To reassure local leaders and communities while this review takes place, the government will confirm that local elections in May 2027 will go ahead on existing council boundaries and remains committed to effective and sustainable local government and simplifying these structures.
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.
This comes on the back of the push to shift power out of Westminster and into communities, led by No10 North.
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.”
Reorganisation in Surrey will not be affected by the review and the two new unitary authorities – East and West Surrey – will go live in April 2027.
The selected model would have brought West Bridgford and parts of Rushcliffe, Broxtowe and Gedling into a new Greater Nottingham Council alongside the existing city area. A second authority, Nottinghamshire Council, would cover the remaining county area. The arrangements remain subject to parliamentary approval.
The announcement follows moves by several councils in the region to question how ministers reached their decisions.
Nottinghamshire County Council issued a pre-action letter on 27 August seeking an explanation of the decision, raising concerns about the lawfulness of the process and the evidence behind the selected option.
The authority said an earlier request for the reasoning and supporting documents had been refused. Its letter sought further information before any decision on further legal proceedings.
Council leader Cllr Mick Barton said the authority needed to understand the reasoning and evidence before considering its position. At that stage, the council said it remained committed to implementing the reorganisation programme.
Rushcliffe and Broxtowe borough councils had separately jointly commissioned legal advice on a possible judicial review.
However, as The Wire reported on 10 August, that advice concluded a challenge was more likely to fail than succeed and identified no viable grounds for judicial review.
The assessment found the government had considered boundary changes, finances, service delivery and consultation responses, and that the consultation was legally sufficient.
Rushcliffe leader Cllr Neil Clarke said at the time that discussions about the next steps were continuing. Broxtowe leader Cllr Milan Radulovic indicated his council was unlikely to proceed if the legal advice was that a challenge would not succeed.
Elsewhere in the region, Lincolnshire County Council issued its own pre-action letter questioning how proposals had been assessed against the government’s criteria and how consultation responses had been considered.
The council explicitly said this did not mean judicial review proceedings had started or that it had decided to bring a challenge. Leader Cllr Sean Matthews said it would consider the government’s response before deciding whether to take further action.
Leicestershire County Council had also been taking legal advice about a possible challenge. In July, leader Cllr Dan Harrison said no final decision on legal action had been made.
According to the advance remarks reported by LGC, Ms Rayner is expected to say she wants to establish that the reorganisation process is robust and lawful, and test whether the proposals meet the priorities of the new administration.
She is also expected to acknowledge the substantial work councils have already undertaken.
For Nottinghamshire, the outstanding questions include whether the selected boundaries will be retained and whether the review will affect the planned May 2027 shadow elections and April 2028 transfer of services to the new authorities. Those were the arrangements set out before today’s expected announcement.
The reported pause does not, by itself, establish that Nottinghamshire’s chosen model has been withdrawn or that a replacement has been selected.
The Secretary of State will update the House on this later today.
- The Secretary of State has considered legal advice and decided to withdraw the decisions for the four places announced in March – Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. For the avoidance of doubt no privilege is waived.
- The 14 areas as part of tranche 3 of the local government reorganisation programme will also be part of the internal review. These areas are:
- Derby & Derbyshire
- Devon, Plymouth & Torbay
- East Sussex & Brighton
- Gloucestershire
- Hertfordshire
- Kent & Medway
- Lancashire, Blackburn with Darwen & Blackpool
- Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland
- Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire & North East Lincolnshire
- Nottingham & Nottinghamshire
- Oxfordshire and West Berkshire
- Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent
- Warwickshire
- Worcestershire
- The government has not yet taken decisions on Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and West Sussex, and these areas will be considered alongside the wider review.
- The review will not consider reorganisation in Surrey. The new unitary authorities have been established in legislation and elections have been held.
