Support for councils and strategic authorities
In the latest developments on devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR), new unitary councils have been announced across a number of areas.
Fifteen new councils are set to be created in the south and east of England, replacing 43 counties and districts in Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk.
Elections to shadow authorities are expected to take place next May, with the new councils coming into effect from April 2028.
The Government has written to the relevant authorities and confirmed the allocation of £63 million of transition funding, with each new unitary receiving at least £900,000 to help establish effective services and governance arrangements.
Meanwhile, elections take place on 7 May to shadow unitaries for East Surrey and West Surrey, with the new councils coming into effect from April 2027.
Decisions on LGR in a further 16 council areas are expected in July.
The LGA recognises the considerable effort from teams across local government who are working at pace to navigate these changes while continuing to deliver vital services for their communities.
We continue to engage constructively with government and support councils through this transition, including through the LGA’s sector support offer.
Support available includes:
- an LGR-specific Digital 360 offer involving a tailored, peer-led review delivering a holistic assessment of digital and organisational readiness
- ‘top team’ workshops and ‘critical friend’ challenge and support from the LGA’s regional teams
- HR and employment law advice.
The LGA is also running a series of free webinars for councillors and officers from local and combined authorities, including on LGR implementation, planning and prioritisation (20 May), the experience of being a unitary councillor (10 June), and council housing aggregation, disaggregation and practical implications for delivery (14 July).
Presentation slides, video recordings, and summaries from previous LGR events – including on asset management, children’s services, and data – are also available.
Our LGR Toolkit – developed for the LGA by Local Partnerships, with councils who have already been through reorganisation – also collates a wide range of resources, from templates and webinars to guidance notes and lessons learned from previous reorganisations.
Resources are broken down by themes, such as finance, leadership and governance, and the toolkit includes a checklist of actions to be completed at different stages of the LGR journey.
Finally, we have also launched a strategic authorities hub – a dedicated space bringing together information, resources and support for existing and emerging strategic authorities.
This includes foundational strategic authorities, mayoral strategic authorities and non-mayoral combined authorities.
The hub includes a resources and video case studies section, in which representatives of strategic authorities share their learning and examples of good practice on how strategic authorities can add value to a region.
New case studies will be available following the pre-election period. In the meantime, we would love to hear your feedback on this new resource. Contact us at localism@local.gov.uk with your thoughts and suggestions.
- Contact your LGA regional team to find out more about how we can help.