Council leader calls for reorganisation costs back

A council leader has called on the government to reimburse local authorities after plans to reorganise local government were paused.

On Monday, the government announced it would be reviewing plans for 15 areas, including Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, where proposals had been accepted to expand the city boundary.

Ben Taylor, Conservative leader of Blaby District Council, welcomed the review, but in a letter to Local Government Secretary Angela Rayner, he urged the government to "fully reimburse" councils for any costs involved in the reorganisation process.

A government spokesperson said it would consider costs on councils and how to support them through the "next stage".

Under the plans for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, parts of the county - including parts of Blaby - would become part of an expanded city boundary under one unitary authority.

The remaining areas would become part of a second unitary council covering the rest of Leicestershire and Rutland.

Before the review was announced, which the government said was in light of new legal advice, these changes were set to come into effect in April 2028.

However, the timeline is now unclear.

Taylor said the council had spent "north of £200,000 in direct costs".

He added: "For almost two years we've spent working on the government's timeline to deliver local government reorganisation.

"That's now been thrown out the window. That's two years of money, officer time, residents being consulted and going through 'are they going to be in or out of the city'.

"That's an incredible amount of work and to find now it's been potentially paused, u-turned, we just don't know.

"The uncertainty is a killer of local government."

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "We recognise and appreciate the significant work that councils and partners have undertaken to date.

"As part of the pause, we will consider council costs and how to support areas through the next stage of the process."

For some residents in Leicestershire, who opposed the city expansion, the review is a welcome pause.

Conservative MPs in Leicestershire have also collected nearly 40,000 signatures on petitions against the plans.

South Leicestershire MP Alberto Costa collected more than 15,000 of those signatures.

During Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Costa said the expansion of Leicester was "against the wishes" of those living in some rural areas of the county, including Blaby, Enderby and Cosby, and asked the PM to meet with residents.

"These are rural or semi-rural villages which have little in common with the urban area of Leicester," he said.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham agreed to meet constituents.

However, Leicester's Labour mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the argument for an enlarged city authority, including towns and villages on the edge of the city, was still overwhelming.

"I'm very frustrated because there will be uncertainty over the next couple of years," he said.

"But I would stress that this has been paused, it has not been cancelled."

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