Councils across Essex are debating an interim plan for local government reorganisation (LGR), developed by all 15 councils in Greater Essex and the Office of Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, prior to submission to the government later this month. The Government requires the plan to be submitted required to submitted by Friday 21st March. The interim plan focuses primarily on progress made to date, the advantages LGR could bring, what evidence we need to move forward and the challenges we face ahead. This detail of the proposal will be developed ahead of the final case submission in September. At this stage there are no firm recommendations around likely numbers of unitary authorities and their geographic borders. However, early-stage thinking by some councils has led to an in-principle preference for five unitaries, although there are differences of opinion across the county, with other councils preferring to look at the data and analysis first before forming a view. www.ealc.gov.uk/devolution EALC Copyright, 2025Much more preparation work and examination of evidence and costs needs to take place, and work will now proceed on a robust business case. LGR could transform local authorities to achieve more for residents and businesses.
The creation of the interim plan follows Greater Essex’s inclusion in the Government’s Priority Programme for devolution, which invited authorities to work together to produce proposals for how all-purpose unitary councils could improve the delivery of essential public services across the county HERE.