Councillors have accused the Government of creating “chaos” and wasting taxpayers’ money as plans to reorganise councils in Cambridgeshire are put on hold.
The Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) process was first announced in December 2024, with ambitious plans to replace county, city and district authorities with unitary councils that offer all public services and cover a wider area.
A decision on Cambridgeshire’s final structure was expected before the summer Parliamentary recess – however it was delayed. Then this week, the Government announced a review of its LGR plans following “new legal advice”, with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough among the areas being paused.
Criticism
This latest decision and the wider LGR process has been widely criticised by councillors across South Cambridgeshire. Concerns have been raised over the money and staff time already spent preparing for the changes, and the continued uncertainty over the future of local government in the county.
Lucy Nethsingha, leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, said the announcement showed how “ill considered and chaotic” the Government’s approach to LGR had been.
She said councils had spent “vast amounts of time and money” working on the proposals, “at the expense of doing other things of more direct benefit to residents”, “only to be told that the Government is now unsure of its legal ground”.
She added: “There is no clarity about the process or timetable for this review, which prolongs the uncertainty and demonstrates how farcical this process has become.”
‘Cost millions’
South Cambridgeshire District Council leader Bridget Smith also criticised the Government’s decision. She described the plans as having “descended once more into farce” and said the latest development would cost taxpayers millions.
She said Council officers had faced almost two years of uncertainty, while businesses needed confidence to invest and residents deserved to know what their future council services would look like.
H&I’s County Councillor Ros Hathorn said she was “very pleased” the reorganisation had been paused, saying she had an “impending sense of dread” about what she believed was likely to be imposed on South Cambridgeshire.
She said there was an argument for combining district and county council functions into a single authority, but argued the “process was becoming increasingly chaotic”.
“Reorganising government is massively disruptive and takes a massive amount of money and time,” Ros said.
She also criticised the requirement for councils to effectively self-fund the process, arguing this meant taking money away from services they currently provide.
She said the pause meant the area would not be “rushed into something no one is ready for” and hoped the Government would take time to consider what was best for Cambridgeshire.
‘Frustrating but unsurprising’
The South Cambridgeshire Conservative Group also criticised the handling of the LGR process, with group leader Heather Williams saying this week’s announcement was “frustrating but unsurprising”.
She said: “So much money and staff time has been wasted on this, that it is insulting to residents and taxpayers in South Cambridgeshire and beyond that are picking up the bill.”
Heather added that the continued uncertainty would “stifle progress” and distract councils from other challenges.
Elliot Tong, a Cambridge councillor for The Green Party, described LGR as “a disaster from start to finish”.
No timeline
The Government has not yet given a timetable for the review of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s proposals. It said a forthcoming White Paper on devolution – titled Rewiring the State – would set out its plans for the future of local government.
A press release from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “This comes on the back of the push to shift power out of Westminster and into communities, led by No10 North.”
Angela Rayner, the new Secretary of State, added: “I do not take this [review] lightly. I recognise the huge amount of work that has already gone into progressing reorganisation in each of these areas, and I am very grateful for it.”
READ MORE: Devolution process begins for Cambridgeshire; Councils at odds over local government shake-up
