Minister told limited change to council reorganisation will undermine devolution

The review of local government reorganisation must lead to a “material change in direction” or flagship reforms and devolution will be undermined, the Government has been warned.

In a letter to local government minister Jim McMahon, the County Council Network (CCN) said that without a new approach emerging following a pause in the process, a more costly and fragmented system would emerge that is less effective than current two-tier structures.

Earlier this month Communities Secretary Angela Rayner announced the withdrawal of plans for smaller single-tier authorities across Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Hampshire – where existing county councils had launched judicial reviews of the decisions – in the light of new legal advice.

Essex County Council had claimed the view of senior government officials that three new councils was the strongest financial option was disregarded by then Communities Secretary Steve Reed in favour of five new councils.

Communities Secretary Angela Rayner announced a review into council reorganisation earlier this month (Joe Giddens/PA)

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Decisions on 14 further areas are also under review alongside the cases of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and West Sussex, where decisions had not been confirmed.

There has been widespread criticism of the reorganisation process as it has developed, with some councils claiming original Government criteria for new unitary councils, including the size of population covered, had been ignored in the decision-making process.

Sources told the Press Association that there is now concern in some councils that the review will not be as in-depth and “genuine” as ministers have promised.

The CCN letter thanked Mr McMahon for “a very positive and constructive relationship” when he was in the post previously and his contribution to establishing “a clear, balanced and evidence-based framework for reform”.

But it added recent decisions had “departed significantly” from the criteria, leading to “extensive boundary changes and unprecedented levels of disaggregation, creating additional risks, complexity and imposing substantial transition costs”.

The CCN said: “If implemented, these decisions would create unsustainable costs and undermine the long-term financial viability of many of the proposed unitary councils on which successful devolution can be built out.

“The review presents an opportunity to restore confidence that decisions are being taken transparently, consistently and on the basis of objective evidence.”

It added: “We share the Government’s ambition to create stronger, more sustainable councils that can act as effective strategic leaders of place and support your objectives for growth, public service reform, devolution and rewiring the state.

Shadow local government minister David Simmonds has accused the Government of gerrymandering (David Woolfall/UK Parliament)

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“However, unless this review results in a material change in direction, we will continue to face the prospect of large-scale fragmentation and complex boundary change that will create a pattern of reform that is more costly, less stable and less effective than the current two-tier system.

“This will ultimately undermine the Government’s reform and devolution objectives.”

Responding to review at the time of the announcement, shadow local government minister David Simmonds repeated the claim that reorganisation plans were a Labour attempt at “gerrymandering”.

He said: “This is yet another total humiliation for this Labour Government, who have once again been exposed breaking the law in an attempt to force their top-down programme of local government reorganisation on communities.

“Ministers are only backing off because they have been found out in the face of relentless Conservative opposition to their gerrymandering.”

Likewise in July, Liberal Democrat leader of Devon County Council Julian Brazil described the Government’s decision to expand Exeter and Plymouth, both with Labour MPs, along with Torbay into surrounding parishes as “Labour gerrymandering”.

“Every other non-Labour council in Devon has been ignored. This approach has been replicated across the country,” he said.

The Government has said creating smaller unitary authorities in areas which currently have two tiers of local government is key to its devolution plans.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “We are reviewing the local government reorganisation programme until we are satisfied that the right process is in place, it complies with the law, and it meets the priorities of the new administration.

“We will ensure this review delivers the best possible outcome for councils and local people.”