Image © Shutterstock
Counties including Essex, Kent, Surrey and Hertfordshire will change the way they run in exchange for more powers and money from the government, according to the Times.
Norfolk and Suffolk will also be restructured, with their district councils abolished and merged into new unitary authorities.
Government sources told the newspaper they had consulted “extensively” with councils over the changes and were only working with areas that actively supported the reforms.
There are 21 county councils across England, with 164 district councils working alongside them. It is believed 10 areas of the country are open to reform and reorganise in the first wave.
Ministers believe two-tier local government structures are inefficient and that district councils build up cash reserves rather than spending the money on improving public services, the Times reports.
District councils are also seen as blocking growth by rejecting housing developments, which would stand in the way of Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes in the next five years.
As a result, two-tier systems will be replaced with larger unitary authorities, with populations of at least 500,000 people.
The District Councils’ Network previously suggested proposals to change local government structures would damage “local democratic accountability” and criticised prioritising “drawing different lines on maps” over reform to public services such as social care.
In response to the news, network chair Sam Chapman-Allen said: “Any reform should ensure that local government remains genuinely local and rooted in real places, but it’s hard to see how this would be the case in vast new unitary councils, which are far from local communities. Local democratic accountability depends on residents retaining a demonstrably close link to the councillors who represent them.
“We are open to change provided it is done well. That means reform and better integration of all public services that can best be delivered locally rather than merely changing council structures and drawing different lines on maps. Attempts at structural change in recent years suggest that creating large councils is no panacea for resolving the many challenges local government faces.
“It’s essential that any reform has real local buy-in, isn’t imposed top-down and is built on the principle of localism. We’re ready to work with the government to co-design the right type of reform in the best interests of the residents we serve.”
The revelation came after analysis commissioned by the County Councils Network in 2020 found merging every two-tier council would save the taxpayer almost £3bn over five years.
The research also said that creating two unitary authorities in one county would reduce the savings by two-thirds.
A white paper on English devolution is expected to be published in the coming weeks.
The move is reportedly being led by local government minister Jim McMahon and Pete Robbins, director of local government and devolution in Downing Street, as well as Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff.
