Districts hit out against delaying local elections for devolution programme

The warning comes in response to the Government's 'priority devolution programme', which calls for councils to apply by Friday this week (10 January).

News of the programme came in December after the Government published its English Devolution White Paper, which revealed plans to replace England's county and district councils with unitary councils with populations over half a million.

Councils selected for the programme will have their upcoming May 2024 elections delayed until next year.

So far, at least nine county councils are poised to put their name down for the scheme, with more district, borough and unitary councils voicing their interest as well.

However, the chairman of the DCN, Cllr Sam Champman-Allen, said the programme would see "mega councils [...] imposed on communities" without any regard for the views of local people.

He added: "The cancellation of the local elections comes after the Government's general election manifesto neglected to mention that it sought to take power away from communities by replacing district councils with mega councils.

"Democracy is being sidelined with the local electorate being deprived of any democratic opportunity to give their verdict on a major reorganisation that will have far-reaching repercussions for the destiny of thousands of English towns and villages."

Chapman-Allen said it made "no sense" to give councils the chance to sidestep the local electorate before reorganisation proposals have been published "and when no one can tell whether this is something that residents would want".

He continued: "This could lead to an unprecedented gap of six or seven years between elections, undermining democracy.

"Instead, we need a proper debate on how best we can reform local public services to enhance them and make them more accountable to every citizen and community."

Responding to the English Devolution White Paper in December, the DCN said it feared the reorganisation proposals "put too much emphasis on creating large unitary councils with populations above 500,000".

The approach would lead to "geographically vast councils that are remote from local communities" and erode local democracy, the DCN added.

Adam Carey