Hertfordshire councils' restructure plans dropped

Plans to abolish 11 councils in Hertfordshire and replace them with four unitary authorities have been dropped by the government.

It means elections for its existing councils will go ahead based on current county boundaries in May 2027, with shadow elections for any new authorities due to take place no earlier than May 2028.

Mayor of Watford, Liberal Democrat Peter Taylor, said: "This whole process has been a shambles. Today's announcement creates even more uncertainty for councils and local communities."

Local government minister, Jim McMahon, said "every area [in the country] will have an outcome by early next year", with plans for Hertfordshire's future remaining under consideration.

The proposals were unveiled in July, but only six of the existing 11 authorities in Hertfordshire supported the model of four unitary councils, with others preferring either two or three councils to serve a population of 1.2m.

However, local government secretary Angela Rayner announced a pause in the plans for the county in September along with 19 other areas, after receiving legal advice.

The government said it was now minded to go-ahead with reorganisation in five areas across the country, but will also consider the best way forward for all remaining areas, including Hertfordshire.

McMahon said: "All options and proposals in these areas will remain under consideration and I will approach all those with an open mind. As such, it should not be assumed that the same proposal will be automatically selected.

"We will move faster where we can, and some of the remaining areas may receive an outcome decision before others."

The changes are part of the government's plan for wider devolution of power away from Westminster, and ministers said the new all-purpose or "unitary" councils should have populations of 500,000 or more.

The government has also confirmed it will release half of the allocated transition funding, approximately £2m, to Hertfordshire in November, with the remaining funding provided once a final decision had been reached.

But Taylor said: "Proper assessments of the various reorganisation proposals should have been done before the government announced their decision in July.

"Hard-pressed councils have already spent a lot of time and money on this. Now we're left with even more uncertainty and rising costs.

"This is a terrible way to treat councils and communities."

However, in Wednesday's Budget, Chancellor John Healey said Hertfordshire could soon get an elected mayor, who would make key decisions about transport, housing and infrastructure.

The government said it expected elections for the role to be held on the same day as the shadow elections, in May 2028.

Angie Ridgwell, from the Hertfordshire Local Government Reorganisation programme, said: "While today's announcement means there is no confirmed reorganisation model for Hertfordshire, work across the county will continue.

"We will now carefully consider the implications of this announcement on Hertfordshire's LGR programme and the work to establish a Mayoral Strategic Authority for Hertfordshire."

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