by Cai Parry, Policy Officer
A number of members have been in touch about the Government’s announcement in December about the reorganisation of local authorities outlined in their English Devolution white paper. We’ve created this page to hopefully explain in plainer language what this means for members and we will update this page as more information is released.
Many parts of England have two tiers of local authority, with both County and District councils. The Government’s ambition is that all of these areas will be reorganised to have Unitary Authorities – A single council with all of the responsibilities of county and district councils. This will hopefully streamline local government, provide a more joined-up approach to the delivery of services, and save nearly £3bn over a 5 year period (according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, MHCLG).
Whilst the form this reorganisation will take will undoubtedly be the domain of negotiations between the councillors and leaders of existing authorities, Care England is keen to play a role in ensuring that this reorganisation is used as an opportunity to have a new beginning in the delivery of adult social care services, and the relationships between providers and local authorities, in many parts of England.
An explainer document outlining the key facts – the what, where, when and why’s – of local government reorganisation and English devolution is linked below. This again will be kept up to date as new announcements are made. Our key message for members is that the first wave of reorganisation will not take effect until April 1 2027 at the earliest, with elections to those new ‘shadow authorities’ taking place in May 2026. Until then, existing councils should be operating and making decisions as though it is business as usual for the 2025/6 and 2026/7 financial years.
On the 5th of February, the Government announced which Councils will be a part of the first wave of reorganisation. These will be:
- Essex (inc. Thurrock & Southend)
- Hampshire & the Isle of Wight (inc. Portsmouth & Southampton)
- Norfolk
- Surrey
- Suffolk
- East & West Sussex (inc. Brighton & Hove)
Click here to see our full explainer document
The timetable for the first “priority” wave is as follows:
| 10 January 2025 | Deadline for local authorities to apply for the priority scheme |
| 5 February 2025 | MHCLG confirm which counties are accepted to the scheme. 2025 elections are postponed. |
| Late March 2025 | Interim reorganisation proposals submitted to MHCLG |
| May 2025 | Full reorganisation proposals submitted |
| Autumn 2025 | MHCLG decide on proposals |
| January 2026 | Government legislation sets proposals in law |
| 7 May 2026 | Elections to new local authorities take place. They act as "shadow authorities" while existing councils continue. |
| May '26 - March '27 | Shadow authorities work to prepare 2027/28 budget and take over administration at the beginning of the financial year. |
| 1 April 2027 | Shadow authorities assume roles of existing councils as the existing ones are abolished. |
| Before April 2029 | Latest date remaining two tier councils are set for reorganisation |
For more information or to ask any questions on English devolution or local government reorganisation, please directly email our Policy Officer, Cai Parry at cparry@careengland.org.uk
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