Fresh bid to set up single council for Leicestershire

Leicestershire County Council has requested the government postpones its elections planned for May this year until May 2026.

The authority wants to see a unitary authority set up to replace the county council and district councils, which would mean the abolition of Melton Borough Council.

County Hall says it would also favour a mayoral combined authority to comprise the proposed Leicestershire unitary authority, Leicester City Council and Rutland County Council.

It follows a White Paper published by the Labour government in December outlining how they wish to have all areas of England covered by a mayor and to get all two-tier local government reorganised by the end of this parliament.

The county council has long protested it is chronically underfunded compared to other local authorities in England and it says the new set-up would save money and likely attract increased funding for services.

County Hall, which is Conservative-controlled, campaigned for a Leicestershire unitary authority six years ago but the plans were thrown out. It commissioned an independently verified business case in 2019 which concluded a single council would save the county £30million a year.

Councillor Pip Allnatt, who leads the Labour and Independent administration on Melton Borough Council told the Melton Times in December it would be a matter for borough councillors to debate over whether they wanted a unitary authority.

On the new plan revealed today, Deborah Taylor, acting leader of Leicestershire County Council, said: “This is about reorganising local government.

"It offers an opportunity to save money, simplify a confusing system and protect front-line services and has been a goal for a number of years.”

She added: “I want to be clear that this is a fresh bid in response to government proposals and not a county council takeover.

"We are in regular contact with the City Council, Rutland Council, district councils, partners and staff to ensure they are aware of, and involved in, shaping plans and wait to hear from government on next steps.”

A request to the government to delay the County Council elections does not require any proposals at this time in regard to reorganisation of local government but those proposals would have to be made by May.