East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward says the Labour Party’s preferences will not influence her stance on local government reorganisation.
In 2026, the government will ask the Mayor for her preference on where new council boundaries should be drawn.
She said: “What I’m not going to do is pick an option at the moment. But what I have already done is set out some conditions for me.
“I think there should be four authorities, which allows that stability for the combined authority as well, rather than, you know, taking it down to three, for example, or two.
“They need to be close enough to their communities and have an identity with their communities, but big enough to make them work and be sustainable.”
Local government reorganisation, which will see the current structure of local councils across the country scrapped in favour of new, simpler councils, was announced last December by the Labour government.
Currently, residents of Nottingham city rely on Nottingham City Council for all their services, but residents of the county have two councils dealing with theirs – Nottinghamshire County Council for their roads and schools, and their borough or district council for bins and parks.
The reshuffle will see all these councils merged into new, larger ones that provide comprehensive services for residents in their area.
The existing councils all get a say in how these new councils might look, and in November, submitted their preferences to the government.
In 2026, Mayor Claire Ward – whose authority, the East Midlands Combined County Authority, covers Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire and will exist alongside the new councils – will be asked by the government how she thinks the new councils should look.
She said: “The government will ask for a review. And I will consider whether or not that is setting out broad principles to them, or specifically a preferred option for each of the areas.
“I will give a view on the principles, and I will consider nearer the time, when I’m in discussion with the government, as to whether or not I’ve got a preferred option for each of them.
“I’m looking at all the cases, and I’ve been talking with all of the authorities. They’ve made their cases to me, and we’ll see what happens in the next few months. What will influence me is what’s right for this region.”
In Mansfield District Council’s most recent full council meeting to discuss their preference on the reorganisation, Reform councillor Martin Wright said he thought that what Mansfield Council preferred was irrelevant, because ultimately it would come down to the Mayor and the government’s choice.
Asked about the comment, the Mayor said: “I think, as mayor and a combined authority, we will provide the stability in this region as LGR takes place. So, with all of that turmoil around, we will be that stability.
“Inevitably, there are some things that are important to be able to guarantee that, and that’s why I say, I think four unitary authorities coming out of this to replace the existing pool that we’ve got is the right thing.
“I think that there needs to be a really clear sense that those options are sustainable and have merit with the communities that they serve. So I will be very clear about that, but the government will also have a view, and when the public are asked about it, they will also have a view.”
But the Mayor admitted she was in favour of LGR generally.
She said: “I think if you asked the public whether they’d like fewer politicians, the answer is probably yes. If you asked them if they’d like a simpler system so that their bins aren’t collected by one lot but emptied by another lot, they’d probably say yes.
“People want some simplicity. And I think, finally, the savings that we will get from local government reorganisation can be reinvested into frontline services and delivering for people. And that’s important.”
