Proposed structural changes to local government in England were set out in the English devolution white paper published by the UK government on 16 December 2024. The white paper announced that where possible, there was a desire for existing two-tier areas (where services are provided by both county councils and district councils) to be reorganised into a smaller number of unitary authorities, where local services are provided by a single authority.[1][2] The government set an initial target for all unitary authorities to have a population of at least 500,000 people,[3][4] however it has since indicated that this a guideline, and councils have the flexibility to put forward proposals that are above or below this figure if they believe this is right for their area.[5]
This wave of local government restructuring follows previous changes in 1992–2002, 2009 and 2019–2023, and has been referred to as Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) by the UK government. It is intended that the first elections to the new councils will be on 6 May 2027, and the councils will begin operation on 1 April 2028. For Surrey, an accelerated timeline is planned, with elections on 7 May 2026, and the new councils beginning operation on 1 April 2027.[6]
A round of local government reorganisation took place in England between 2019 and 2023 during the Conservative governments of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak. Here several large unitary authorities were created between either by abolition of district councils, (in Somerset, Dorset, Buckinghamshire and North Yorkshire), or by the abolition of county councils and grouping of districts into new unitaries, (e.g. in Cumbria and Northamptonshire).
The Labour Party returned to power following a landslide victory in the 2024 general election, and in her Autumn budget statement, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves outlined that a forthcoming English Devolution Bill would include plans for "working with councils to move to simpler structures that make sense for their local areas", suggesting that a new round of local government reorganisation could be likely.[7][8]
West Berkshire has proposed to merge with the districts of Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire from the neighbouring county of Oxfordshire to form a new authority, preliminarily called 'Ridgeway Council'. The remainder of Berkshire would be unaffected.[9] Separately, the leader of Reading Borough Council and the MP for Reading West and Mid Berkshire has written to the Government to argue that residents of Reading's urban area who live within West Berkshire's boundaries, in suburbs such as Tilehurst, would be better served by becoming part of Reading Council rather than a council with Oxfordshire districts.[10] The Councillor for Chieveley and Cold Ash disagreed, saying West Berkshire residents would be 'dominated' by Reading and Wokingham if it became part of a council with them.[11] The leader of RBC's proposals did not propose or mention the inclusion of West Berkshire outside of Reading suburbs nor the Borough of Wokingham.[10]
In November 2024, the former leader of Fenland District Council, and the leader of the Liberal Democrat group on East Cambridgeshire District Council urged that Cambridgeshire be included in the next round of local government reorganisation.[12] As of October 2025, Cambridgeshire County Council's preferred option would see the area divided between two authorities: a northern one covering Huntingdonshire, Peterborough City and Fenland, and a southern one covering Cambridge City, South Cambridgeshire and East Cambridgeshire.[13]
In August 2025, the county's councils agreed on three options for further consideration. All three proposals would see the area covered by two authorities, with one council covering the southern part of the county (including the city of Derby), and the other covering the northern part of the county:[14]
Option A: a southern council covering Erewash, Derby and South Derbyshire; a second authority to cover the rest of the county
Option B: a southern council covering Amber Valley, Erewash, Derby and South Derbyshire; a second authority to cover the rest of the county
Option C: a southern council covering Erewash, Derby, South Derbyshire, and the southern part of Amber Valley; a second authority to cover the rest of the county, including the remainder of Amber Valley.
In September 2025 Devon County Council proposed that the entire area covered by the county council become a single unitary authority, with Plymouth and Torbay remaining as unitary authorities on their existing borders. This plan was critisiced by Exeter City Council, who have proposed that Exeter be expanded to become a unitary authority of its own. Plymouth City Council have also proposed expanding into areas currently covered by the county council, whilst Torbay has yet to decide on a final proposal.[15] Devon's other district councils have proposed an alternative structure, known as the "1-4-5 plan", which envisages that Plymouth would continue as a unitary authority on its existing boundary, whilst the remainder of the county (including Torbay) would be divided two authorities: one covering South Hams, Teignbridge, West Devon, and Torbay; and one covering Mid Devon, East Devon, North Devon, Torridge, and Exeter.[16]
East Sussex County Council covers a population of 550,000 and has proposed a direct replacement of the county council and five district councils with a single unitary authority.[17] Brighton and Hove City Council, which is already a unitary authority, proposed that the border between itself and the new East Sussex unitary should be altered to include areas such as Saltdean and Peacehaven within Brighton and Hove.[18]
The ceremonial county of Essex is at present split into a non-metropolitan county of the same name, administered by Essex County Council, and two unitary authorities. Essex County Council shares governance with twelve non-metropolitan districts in a two-tier system of local government.
The full list of districts and unitary authority areas within the area are:
Later in December 2024, it was reported that the government would reorganise Essex into two or three local authorities with over 500,000 people each. The unitary authorities of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea will be abolished and merged with other areas of the county, with local elections likely postponed until 2026.[20] Essex County Council leader Kevin Bentley confirmed that his council would ask the government to postpone local elections for the unitary and two-tier authorities of Essex to prepare for the county's reorganisation.[21]
This area is currently split between the non-metropolitan county of Hampshire, administered by Hampshire County Council and eleven district councils, and three unitary authorities, one of which covers the Isle of Wight. The remainder are:
Proposals submitted by Hampshire councils. All include the Isle of Wight remaining separate.
Hampshire County Council leader has said that it is unlikely that the unitarisation of the county would follow current district boundaries.[23] The interim proposal submitted by district councils on 21 March 2025 stated that the Isle of Wight should remain its own council rather than being merged with mainland authorities. It also set out analysis for the mainland authorities to be based on the economic geographies of Basingstoke, Winchester, Southampton, Portsmouth, without making a decision on the number of unitaries.[24]
Initially all 15 authorities (including the 13 Hampshire Districts, Hampshire County Council, and the Isle of Wight) formed a group to bring forward a single proposal, assessing eight options of between 2 and 5 proposals. They ultimately concluded that four mainland councils, plus the Isle of Wight remaining separate despite falling below the 500,000 mark, would be ideal.[25]However, subsequent to this, Hampshire County Council, East Hampshire District, and Gosport Borough Council announced that they were leaving the joint process, with Hampshire and East Hampshire beginning their own process,[26] and Gosport fully opposing the process.[27]
The remaining councils ultimately agreed to work on the business cases for three potential proposals, based around the urban areas of Basingstoke, Winchester, Southampton, and Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight remaining separate. Two of these were simple merges of districts, whilst the third included proposed boundary changes. All three proposals included proposals for a North Hampshire authority comprising Basingstoke and Deane, Hart, and Rushmoor, a Mid Hampshire authority based around Winchester, East Hants, and Test Valley, a South East authority based around Portsmouth, Havant, Gosport, and Fareham, and a South West authority based around Southampton and Eastleigh. The three vary slightly depending on how the New Forest is paired with, either wholly or partly with the Mid or South West proposals. The third option's boundary changes included transferring the parishes of Totton & Eling, Marchwood, Hythe & Dibden and Fawley from the New Forest and Valley Park, Nursling & Rownhams and Chilworth from Test Valley into the South West district, and Newlands from Winchester and Horndean, Clanfield and Rowlands Castle into the South East District.[28] A shared vision entitled Close enough to be local big enough to stay strong was published by the 12 councils, with each district due to vote on their preferred option in September 2025.[29]
Hampshire County Council and East Hampshire District Council meanwhile proposed three mainland authorities, of North and Mid Hampshire comprising Basingstoke and Deane, East Hampshire, Hart, Rushmoor and Winchester with a population of around 656,000, South-West Hampshire comprising Eastleigh, New Forest, Southampton, and Test Valley with a population of around 707,000, and South-East Hampshire comprising Fareham, Gosport, Havant and Portsmouth with a population of around 533,000, with the Isle of Wight remaining independent.
In July 2025, a consultation opened on three options, all of which proposed five unitary councils across the two counties.[30]
In May 2025, the Leaders of all eleven Hertfordshire councils jointly agreed that a single unitary authority covering the entire county – an area with a population of 1.2 million – would be too remote to maintain democratic accountability. The councils jointly proposed three options:[32]
Option A: Two authorities:
West Hertfordshire, covering Dacorum, Hertsmere, St Albans, Three Rivers, and Watford.
East Hertfordshire, covering Broxbourne, East Herts, North Herts, Stevenage and Welwyn Hatfield.
Option B: Three authorities:
West Hertfordshire, covering Dacorum, Three Rivers, and Watford, with the addition of parts of Hertsmere.
Central Hertfordshire, covering the remaining part of Hertsmere, along with St Albans, and Welwyn Hatfield.
East Hertfordshire, covering Broxbourne, East Herts, North Herts, and Stevenage.
Option C: Four authorities:
West Hertfordshire, covering Dacorum and St Albans.
Southwest Hertfordshire, covering Hertsmere, Three Rivers, and Watford.
East Hertfordshire, covering Broxbourne, and East Herts, with the addition of parts of North Herts and Welwyn Hatfield
Central Hertfordshire, covering the remaining parts North Herts and Welwyn Hatfield, along with Stevenage.
Kent County Council and Medway Council applied for a devolution deal in January 2025 which would include a Mayor of Kent above several unitary authorities.[33] In February 2025 it was announced that Kent would not be part of the priority programme.[34]
In July 2025, KCC suggested a split into three unitary authorities:[35]
West Kent covering Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge & Malling and Tunbridge Wells
North Kent covering Dartford, Gravesham, Medway and Swale
East Kent covering Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe and Thanet
Medway Council suggested a four-authority plan including realignment of the existing Maidstone/Medway boundary.[36]
In November 2024, a group of Lancashire MPs called for the replacement of the current two-tier system with a smaller number of unitary authorities. Three and four authority models were proposed.[37][38] In December 2024, the leaders of South Ribble Council and Chorley Council proposed forming a unitary authority together with West Lancashire Council.[39]
As of October 2025, five options were under consideration by the county's councils:[40]
Two councils, with a northern council covering Blackpool, Fylde, Lancaster, Preston, Ribble Valley, and Wyre; and a southern council covering Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Chorley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Rossendale, South Ribble, and West Lancashire.
Three councils, with a northern council covering Blackpool, Fylde, Lancaster, and Wyre Unitary; a western council covering Chorley, Preston, South Ribble, and West Lancashire Unitary; and an eastern council covering Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley, and Rossendale.
Four councils, with a north-western council covering Blackpool, Fylde, and Wyre; a south-western council covering Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire; a south-eastern council covering Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, and Rossendale; and a north-eastern council covering Lancaster, Preston, and Ribble Valley.
Four councils, with a north-western council covering Blackpool Fylde Preston, and the western coast of Wyre; a south-western council covering Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire; a south-eastern council covering Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Rossendale, and the southeast area of Ribble Valley; and a north-eastern council covering Lancaster, and the remaining areas of Wyre and Ribble Valley.
Five councils, with a mid-western council covering Blackpool, Fylde, and Preston; a south-western council covering Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire Unitary; a central council covering Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn, and Ribble Valley; a northern council covering Lancaster and Wyre; and an eastern council covering Burnley, Pendle, and Rossendale.
Three rival plans emerged for Leicestershire in 2025. Leicestershire County Council is proposing a "doughnut" model with a large unitary authority covering the entire area currently served by the county council. Leicestershire districts are proposing two smaller unitary authorities; "North Leicestershire and Rutland Council" serving the area presently covered by Charnwood borough, North West Leicestershire district council, Melton borough council, and Rutland county council; and a "South Leicestershire Council" serving the areas currently covered by Blaby district council, Harborough district council, Hinckley and Bosworth borough council and Oadby and Wigston borough council. Neither of these two plans seeks to change the status or boundaries of the existing Leicester City Council unitary authority.[41] A third proposal by Leicester City Council seeks to substantially expand the existing Leicester unitary authority boundary to include more of the built up areas surrounding Leicester including Oadby, Wigston, Thurmaston, Syston, Birstall, Glen Parva and Glenfield.
In March 2025, three separate proposals for the future governance of Lincolnshire were published, Option One would see a single council for the area that currently makes up Lincolnshire County Council and a merger of the current two unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire in the north of the county to make a single council however the proposed northern council would not be within the governments preferred minimum population quota of 500,000. Option Two would see Lincolnshire split into two separate unitary authorities on a north–south basis with North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, East and West Lindsey making up the northern council area whilst Lincoln, North and South Kesteven, Boston and South Holland making up the southern council area with both proposed areas falling within the governments preferred minimum population quota of 500,000. Option Three would see Lincolnshire split up into three council areas, one covering Lincoln, West Lindsey, North Kesteven and South Kesteven, the second covering East Lindsey, Boston and South Holland and the third covering North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire although it is stated that this option is unlikely to proceed because none of the proposed areas would be within the minimum population quota.[42]
In Norfolk, the county council is proposing a single unitary covering the whole of Norfolk.[43] All district councils apart from South Norfolk Council are proposing 3 unitaries, a proposal known as "Future Norfolk".[44] South Norfolk Council is proposing 2 unitaries,[45] "West and North Norfolk" covering Breckland, Kings Lynn and West Norfolk and North Norfolk and "Norwich and East Norfolk" covering Broadland, Great Yarmouth, Norwich and South Norfolk.[46]
In March 2025, the county's councils agreed to submit three options for further consideration. All three proposals would see the area covered by two authorities, with one council based on the Nottingham built-up area, and the other covering the remainder of the county:[47]
Option 1b: One council would cover Nottingham, Broxtowe, and Gedling; a second authority would cover the rest of the county.
Option 1e: One council would cover Nottingham, Broxtowe, and Rushcliffe; a second authority would cover the rest of the county.
Boundary Review option: One council would cover Nottingham, along with parts of Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe; a second authority would cover the rest of the county.
As of October 2025, the councils covering the county had been unable to agree on which option to formally submit to the UK government.[48]
Oxfordshire County Council's preferred option is for a single authority covering the entire county.[49]
Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire have proposed to merge with the unitary authority of West Berkshire to form a new authority, provisionally called 'Ridgeway Council'. Under these proposals, Oxford, West Oxfordshire and Cherwell would merge into a separate unitary authority area, provisionally called "Oxford and Shires Council".[9]
Oxford City Council have proposed a three-council structure, in which Oxford would expand to cover the "Greater Oxford" area, to be formed alongside a slightly smaller version of the proposed Ridgeway council, and a Northern Oxfordshire council covering those parts of West Oxfordshire and Cherwell not incorporated into Greater Oxford.[50]
In February 2025, Stoke-on-Trent City Council proposed merging with neighbouring Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands to form a North Staffordshire unitary authority.[51] In March 2025, the district councils of Stafford, East Staffordshire, South Staffordshire, Cannock Chase, Lichfield and Tamworth jointly proposed a complementary unitary authority for Southern and Mid Staffordshire, covering the six districts.[52] In October 2025 Staffordshire Moorlands proposed a modified version of this north/south split, in which the areas surrounding Uttoxeter (currently in East Staffordshire) and Stone (currently in the Stafford district) would also be added to the northern authority.[53]
This north/south split is opposed by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, who instead prefer the current two-tier system, a Newcastle-under-Lyme unitary authority or any other unitary authority excluding Stoke-on-Trent.[54]
Separately in February 2025, Staffordshire County Council put forward a rival proposal for a unitary authority to cover the area of the current county council, replacing all councils in Staffordshire except Stoke-on-Trent, which would remain separate.[55] However, since this proposal, the county council has changed hands, with Reform UK now controlling the council. The Reform-led council have since proposed an east/west split, with Leek, Stoke-on-Trent, Lichfield and Tamworth forming an East Staffordshire authority, and West Staffordshire being comprised of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stafford, Cannock Chase and South Staffordshire.[56]
Despite the differing proposals for reorganisation, all councils in the county have jointly proposed a mayoral strategic authority for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.[57]
Suffolk County Council is proposing a single unitary authority covering the whole of the county,[58] a proposal known as "One Suffolk".
The five district councils are proposing three unitary authorities,[59] a "Central and Eastern" one covering most of East Suffolk and part of Mid Suffolk, a Western one covering West Suffolk and parts of Babergh and Mid Suffolk and an "Ipswich and Southern" one covering Ipswich and parts of Babergh, East and Mid Suffolk.[60]
Surrey County Council proposed a split into East Surrey and West Surrey unitary authorities in May 2025,[61] whereas 9 of the 11 districts and boroughs proposed a 3-way split with a North, West and East Surrey.[62] On 28 October 2025, the government confirmed that this Surrey would be reorganised into two unitaries, as proposed by Surrey County Council.[63] The government intends that Surrey will move to a unitary structure faster than other areas, and the new councils are expected to become operational on 1 April 2027.[6] The new councils will be:[64]
East Surrey, comprising the area currently covered by Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, and Tandridge district councils (2021 population 545,798);
West Surrey, comprising the area currently covered by Guildford, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Waverley, and Woking district councils (2021 population 657,309).
In October 2025, Warwickshire County Council voted to support a proposal for the entire county to become a single unitary authority, and for the county to apply to join the West Midlands Combined Authority. An alternative proposal by the county's Liberal Democrats would see Warwickshire divided into two unitary authorities, a southern one covering Warwick and Stratford, and a northern one covering Rugby, North Warwickshire and Nuneaton and Bedworth.[65]
West Sussex County Council covers a population of 900,000 and originally proposed either one large or two smaller unitary authorities, dependent on whether Crawley remains in West Sussex or is moved to Surrey,[66] and whether Brighton & Hove would expand its territory.[67] In October 2025 the County Council stated that its preference was for a single unitary authority covering the entire area.[68] An alternative two-council proposal was also submitted by the county's district councils. Under this arrangement one council would cover Crawley, Horsham, and Mid Sussex; the other council would cover Adur, Arun, Chichester, and Worthing.[69]
There are two options currently proposed for Worcestershire:[70]
One option would see all seven councils replaced with a single unitary authority.
The alternative would see the county split between two authorities:
North Worcestershire, covering Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest.
South Worcestershire, covering Malvern Hills, Worcester and Wychavon.
As of October 2025, Worcestershire County Council and Wyre Forest District Council favoured a single unitary, whilst the remaining district councils favoured the north/south split.[56]
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