‘Handbrake U-turn’ on major shake-up of Nottinghamshire councils

Nottinghamshire had been heading for its largest boundary shake-up in 50 years following the Labour Government’s announcement in December 2024 for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).

However, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner MP (Lab), has announced that the plan will now be paused by officials following new legal advice.

May’s 2027 local elections will also go ahead on existing boundaries.

LGR had meant that by 2028 places like Nottinghamshire would have their multiple councils re-shaped and merged to create new unitary authorities, abolishing the two-tier local government structure in some areas, which sees council services split between lower and upper-tier authorities.

In July, the Government confirmed its decision for Nottinghamshire, where sections of Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe would be merged with Nottingham to form one unitary and a second unitary authority would cover the rest of the county.

The plans had been subject to criticism since being announced, with concerns the LGR process was being ‘rushed’ through and for potential service impacts, local representation and the public consultation itself.

Three of Nottinghamshire’s councils had even floated a judicial review attempt on the LGR decision, which involves a judge reviewing the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public body. This can only be launched to challenge the way a decision was made, rather than the rights and wrongs of a decision.

Rushcliffe Council’s previous effort, jointly with Broxtowe Council, to appoint a lawyer to assess whether a judicial review on the decision had a ‘potential to succeed’ concluded an application for review was more likely to fail than to succeed.

In late August, the Reform-led county council wrote to the Government to seek clarification on the basis for its LGR decision for the county, issuing a ‘Pre-Action Protocol’ letter – this is a procedural step that can iron out any problems before considering further legal proceedings.

Now, England’s LGR will be paused, with Ms Rayner telling the House of Commons she wanted to ‘satisfy herself that the process was robust and legally sound’ and that she has ‘dotted every I and crossed every T’ during it.

Hucknall MP Michelle Welsh (Lab) said the review was ‘the right thing to do’ but the Government must now conduct a ‘genuine review’.

She said: “Decisions of this magnitue cannot simply be about lines on a map or structures of local government – they must be about the people and communities they exist to serve.

"It must be a genuine review, it must listen to local residents, properly consider community identity and local representation and ensure that any future proposals work for the people who actually live here.”

Rushcliffe Council leader, Neil Clarke (Con) said it was ‘excellent news’.

He said: “The Government has performed not just a U-turn, but what I would call a handbrake U-turn, a screeching handbrake U-turn.

“If they review this, it’s going to take well into next year, potentially beyond the date of when the new councils are set up, starting to get into general election territory and a then new Government which I would expect would not want to continue with it anyway.”

Coun Sam Smith (Con), leader of the Conservative opposition on the county authority, called the pause a ‘fantastic victory’.

He said: “It’s a massive victory for social care, greenbelt land, rural bus connections and is a result of Conservative lobbying, with residents who signed our petitions.

“The Conservatives have been calling this process and gerrymandering a stitch-up since day one.”

Coun John Clarke (Lab), Gedling Council leader, told the LDRS he was ‘really frustrated’, saying he and officers had spent a ‘significant’ amount of time working on LGR for Gedling.

He added: “It’s another U-turn, somebody in Government has got it seriously wrong – how many councils could go bankrupt from this?

Coun Mick Barton (Ref), county council leader, who recently indicated the authority would consider a judicial review by issuing the ‘pre-action’ letter, said his authority is going to continue on that process until details on the pause are given.

He said: “I want to know what pause means.

"I’ve written two letters previously to Angela Rayner – she hasn’t answered any of my points.”

He said the authority has a 90-day window to put in for judicial review once he receives response from the pre-action letter, adding: “Until I get it officially told by Angela Rayner of the pause length, that’s where I am.

"I’m writing to her first thing tomorrow morning of how long the pause means.”

Coun Milan Radulovic (Brox All), Broxtowe Council leader, welcomed the pause in LGR and said: “It needs a proper needs-based assessment, not gerrymandering of boundaries for political gain.”

Coun Neghat Khan (Lab), Nottingham City Council leader, said: “I’ll be having discussions with colleagues and will be putting a statement out.

"I think it is really important not to forget why LGR was happening.

“For us in the city we are a unitary but we know we’ve got tight boundaries and it is really important to look at how we grow from that. Government is talking about targets around housing and the rest of it, and the city has got a track record of delivery, but we have been really clear the boundary is too tight and we need space to grow.

“We will need to have discussions to understand implications because Angela Rayner refers to it as a ‘pause’, a ‘rapid review’, so we have got to understand what all of that means.”