With the next round of proposals for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) due to be submitted on 26 September for those areas with the Devolution Priority Programme, we look at the next stages of the process and proposed changes under the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. 

LGR process and timescales 

The Government recently outlined the stages of the LGR process under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (The 2007 Act) and the timescales to which they are currently working towards. 

Stage one: Inviting unitary proposals 

Invitations were issued to all 21 two-tier areas in February this year. This included statutory guidance specifying the criteria that the Government will consider when assessing the proposals submitted. Briefly, these were: 

1. A proposal should seek to achieve, for the whole of the area concerned, the establishment of a single tier of local government. 
2. Unitary local government must be the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks. 
3. Unitary structures must prioritise the delivery of high quality and sustainable public services to citizens. 
4. Proposals should show how councils in the area have sought to work together in coming to a view that meets local needs and is informed by local views. 
5. New unitary structures must support devolution arrangements. 
6. New unitary structures should enable stronger community engagement and deliver genuine opportunities for neighbourhood empowerment. 

Stage two: Submission of Formal Unitary Proposals 

Formal Unitary Proposals are now awaited from all areas, save for Surrey, which has an accelerated timescale. Each local authority can submit one formal proposal, and a proposal can either be submitted individually by a local authority or jointly with other local authorities that were invited. The strong message from Government is that its preference is for one Proposal to be submitted for an area by all local authorities together. However, this seems unlikely in many areas.  

Once the Proposal(s) are submitted it will be for the Secretary of State to decide which (if any) of the Proposals that are submitted by areas are to be taken forward with or without modification. We have seen in the case of Surrey that Government may take forward more than one Proposal to the next stage, but equally, it may reject a Proposal if it does not consider that it meets the criteria set out in the invitation.  

Stage three: Statutory Consultation 

The Government will then need to carry out a Statutory Consultation in accordance with the requirements of the legislation. The Secretary of State is required to consult any local authority affected that has not submitted the proposal, as well as any other persons considered appropriate. 

The consultation for Surrey opened on 17 June 2025 and ran for 7 weeks until 5 August 2025. The outcome of this consultation is currently awaited. It is worth noting the consultation questions which were asked in relation to Surrey, as it’s likely there will be similar questions in future ones and note the inclusion of a specific question on how the proposals will support devolution: 

1. Does the proposal suggest sensible economic areas and geographies which will achieve a single tier of local government for the whole of Surrey?   
2. Will the local government structures being put forward, if implemented, achieve the outcomes described? 
3. Is the council’s proposal for unitary local government of the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks and is this supported by a rationale for the population size proposed? 
4. As an area covering councils in Best Value intervention and in receipt of Exceptional Financial Support, do you agree that the proposal will put local government in the area as a whole on a firmer footing? 
5. Will the proposal prioritise the delivery of high quality and sustainable public services to citizens, improve local government and service delivery, avoid unnecessary fragmentation of services and lead to better value for money in the delivery of these services?   
6. Has the proposal been informed by local views, and does it consider issues of local identity and cultural and historic importance? 
7. Does the councils’ proposal support devolution arrangements? 
8. Will the councils’ proposal enable stronger community engagement and deliver genuine opportunity for neighbourhood empowerment? 
9. Do you have any other comments with regards to the proposed local government reorganisation in Surrey?  

Stage four: Decision to implement a proposal 

Once a Statutory Consultation is concluded, Ministers will decide, subject to Parliamentary approval, which, if any, Proposal is to be implemented, with or without modification.  In making a decision, regard will be had to all the representations that were received, including the consultation responses, and any other relevant information available.  

Stage five: Making secondary legislation – the Structural Changes Order (SCO) 

Once a decision is taken on which Proposal to implement, the necessary legislation, known as the Structural Changes Order (the SCO), will be prepared for Parliamentary approval. The SCO establishes the new single tier of local government in the relevant area and makes provision to abolish the predecessor councils. It also sets out the detail.

Government will work with local authorities and seek input on specific matters including in relation to the names of the new councils, transitional arrangements and electoral arrangements for inclusion in the SCO.  

Stage six: Transition period 

Once the SCO has been made, the shadow unitary authorities are formed in order to prepare for go live and these will exist alongside the existing authorities, who will carry on delivering services and fulfilling their duties until Vesting Day.  

An Implementation Plan will be required, which will set out what steps and decisions will need to be taken for the new unitary council to be ready for Vesting Day.  

The transitional phase is expected to last a minimum of 12 months to enable a safe and legal transfer of key services from the point the legislation is made, to when the new unitary authorities go live. Elections to the new shadow authorities are expected to take place during this transition stage.  

Stage seven: New unitary authority goes live 

This is Vesting Day, when the existing authorities are abolished and the new unitary authorities go live, and the transfer of assets, property, and staff takes place.  

Timelines 

With regard to the timelines for implementation of LGR, the Government recently outlined that it is currently working toward the following timetable. 

It is still to be seen whether the recent changes within the team at MHLCG and the appointment of Steve Reed as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government as a result of the resignation of Angela Rayner and the Government’s reshuffle are going to have an impact on the current timescales, but at present, these are the ones to work towards.  

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill 

Whilst the focus of the Bill is on strategic authorities and the new Devolution Framework, it does include a couple of changes which are relevant to LGR. 

Firstly, the Bill will reinstate the ability for the Secretary of State to be able to direct councils to submit proposals for LGR. The Government has noted in the guidance to the Bill that all areas are working hard to produce Proposals and they will only use this power should it prove necessary to achieve stability for local government across England. 

Secondly, the Bill would introduce provisions to abolish the committee style model of governance and require all local authorities currently operating that model to transition to the leader and cabinet model, as well as not facilitating the creation of any new local authority mayors under a mayor and cabinet model, although existing ones may remain unless they wish to change. This will apply to any local authorities undergoing LGR now or in the future so that any new unitary authority would be required to operate on the leader and cabinet model of governance, regardless of whether any existing authorities currently have a legacy directly elected council mayor. 

Preparing for LGR  

With the Proposals being submitted shortly, local authorities can then start considering, if they haven’t already, preparing for LGR.  Starting to undertake due diligence to understand what is in place (i.e. contracts) and what the local authority holds (i.e. property) is going to be vital in helping to ensure a smooth transition. Things that a local authority could start thinking about now include: 

1. What property/land does the local authority own or use (freehold/leasehold / informal arrangements) and what will be required going forward? How will any surplus land be dealt with?  
2. Are any properties under contract, option or subject to negotiation? 
3. What does the local authority have in place in terms of contracts and with whom? What is the term for these, and are any due for renewal / re-procurement?  
4. What liabilities exist under any current arrangements?  
5. Could collaborative procurement be considered?  

The Government had recently reiterated in Guidance on Financial Decisions before LGR that, as reorganisation is a once in a generation opportunity to work together to put local government on a more sustainable footing, it is essential that decisions regarding ongoing service delivery and the medium term financial strategy of existing councils do not compromise the future sustainability of new councils.  

It is noted within the Guidance, that Government intends, as it did in previous rounds of reorganisation, to issue directions under Section 24 of the 2007 Act, once the SCOs have been made, to specify a person to give consent for all relevant matters and how that power is to be exercised. These are likely to require that written consent from the successor council will be required for land disposals worth more than £100,000, entering into contracts of more than £1,000,000 for capital and entering into contracts of more than £100,000 for non-capital (whole life costs). 

This is, they say, to ensure new agreements will be in the best interests of the new authorities(s) and do not undermine or diminish the benefits or savings anticipated as a result of the reorganisation.  

In the meantime, Government expects Councillors and Statutory Officers to be mindful of their responsibilities, and they expect all councils in an area to work together in sharing information and making decisions that are in the best interests of the whole area. 

How Capsticks can help 

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