Devolution Priority Programme

On 21 November 2025, Government launched consultations on all 17 proposals submitted for local government reorganisations submitted by the four areas in the Devolution Priority Programme (East Sussex, Brighton and Hove and West Sussex, Hampshire and the Solent, Essex,  Norfolk and Suffolk).

These consultations will run for 7 weeks and are due to close on 11 January 2026. The Government are seeking views of all councils which fall within the invitation areas along with neighbouring councils, public service providers, including health providers and the police, and certain other business, voluntary and community sector and educational bodies. Where proposals include boundary changes, the Local Government Boundary Commission is also being consulted. Views of any other persons or bodies interested in these proposals, including local residents, town and parish councils, businesses and the voluntary and community sector are also welcome.

Government’s announcement on 4 December postponing the mayoral elections for new combined county authorities in the four areas mentioned above came as a surprise to many. It had been expected that mayors would be elected in these areas in May 2026 but these have now been postponed until May 2028.

Their reasoning for this being to enable the new unitary councils to be established first (expected in 2028) and to make "sure strong foundations are in place ahead of devolution". Government believes this will help ensure that new Mayors can come into office with effective and empowered local government arrangements already in place.

For other areas within the Devolution Priority Programme, being Cheshire and Warrington and Cumbria, unitary councils are already in place so Mayoral elections in these areas will proceed in May 2027 as planned.

Government at the same time announced the investment funds for these six newly created Mayoral Strategic Authorities, which in total is close to £200 million collectively per year for 30 years through their investment funds.

Local Government Reorganisation for the remaining areas

For the remaining 14 areas which are not included in the Devolution Priority Programme, Government now need to decide following submission of the proposals on 28 November which will go to consultation and this is expected to take place the first part of 2026.

As with the proposal previously submitted there is no consensus in any one area and in total over 50  following proposals have been submitted across the 14 areas some of which include complex boundary changes. In summary this include:

• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough – 5 proposals submitted – two and three unitary models
• Derbyshire – 5 proposals submitted – a county wide unitary and various configurations for two unitaries
• Devon – 5 proposals submitted – two, three and four unitary models
• Gloucestershire – 3 proposals submitted – a single county unitary and two unitary models
• Hertfordshire – 4 proposals submitted – two, three and four unitary models
• Kent – 5 proposals submitted – a single county unitary and three, four and five unitary models
• Leicestershire and Rutland – 3 proposals submitted - two and three unitary models
• Lancashire - 5 proposals submitted – two, three, four and five unitary models
• Lincolnshire - 4 proposals submitted – two, three or four unitary models
• Nottinghamshire – 3 proposals submitted – two unitaries but three different configurations submitted
• Oxfordshire – 3 proposals submitted – a county wide unitary and two and three unitary models
• Staffordshire - 5 proposals submitted – two and three unitary models
• Warwickshire – 2 proposals submitted – a single county wide unitary and two unitary model
• Worcestershire – 2 proposals submitted – a single county wide unitary and two unitary model

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

The Bill has recently been through the Committee Stage and the Report Stage in the House of Commons and has now moved across to the House of Lords where it recently had its second reading on 8 December, the dates of the committee stage are currently awaited. 

There were a number of amendments proposed to the Bill during the House of Commons. This included an amendment from a number of Labour MPs whose amendment proposed allowing the Mayor to determine the rate and structure of the overnight accommodation levy that would be paid into the general fund for the strategic authority. Government announced in the Autumn Statement that they were commencing a 12-week consultation, ending on 18th February 2026, to seek views from business, residents, and various tourism sectors on how such a levy would work in practice.

Another significant change is one proposed by the Steve Reed, Secretary of State, himself in relation to the proposed abolition of the committee model of governance for local authorities following lobbying by LGA, Sheffield, Bristol and others. The Bill originally provided that all local authorities who had committee style models of governance would need to transition the executive and cabinet model. The amendment would provide that some committee systems could be “protected” from the changes if a referendum to install the committee system took place in the past 10 years. Local authorities that meet these protections would be required to undertake a review on whether they should move to a leader and cabinet model and the reasons why “the committee system is an appropriate form of governance for the local authority”. If the council approved a resolution to remain, the system could be protected for up to five years.

How Capsticks can help

As trusted advisors to local government organisations, Capsticks’ purpose is to deliver results that matter. We appreciate the need to deliver efficiently and cost effectively and have an in-depth understanding of the legislative and governance framework in which local authorities operate.

If you have any queries about what is discussed in this insight and the impact on your organisation, please contact Tiffany Cloynes or Rebecca Gilbert to find out more about how Capsticks can help.