Council Reform Q & A

The plans were outlined in a recent White Paper, launched by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, and described as a “Devolution Revolution”.

Local democracy reporter Simon Finlay poses six questions about how it is likely to work…

1. WHY IS THE GOVERNMENT MAKING THE CHANGES?

The government wants to simplify the way local councils are run and hand down more powers and responsibilities to the communities.

The new model would aim to promote greater efficiency and drive down costs.

There are two separate processes in the shake-up of the way counties, like Kent, are to be run in the future.

One is “devolution” which will see the election by residents of a mayor for the whole county.

The other is “local government reform” which will result in the dismantling of existing local councils, such as Maidstone Borough Council, and replaced by a smaller number of much larger unitary authorities.

Although the details are yet to be decided, some observers predict Kent could shrink from 14 local councils to three unitary authorities.

The government hopes that by streamlining processes and giving more powers, changes to important services, such as transport, can be achieved more quickly with less interference from Whitehall.

With fewer top level staff and overall staff reductions, as well as streamlined services, the government estimates the public purse will be £2bn better off.

2. WHAT DOES AN ELECTED MAYOR DO?

An elected mayor for Kent is a new post but will be similar to those in other parts of the country. For instance, former Labour MP Andy Burnham has been the mayor for Greater Manchester since 2017 and is seen as an example of the role working well.

Devolved powers will cover important functions including transport, policing, housing, public health, skills and employment and strategic planning.

He or she would work closely with the new unitary authorities in a partnership but ultimately the mayor is the leader and the figurehead.

 

3. WHAT WOULD THE NEW LOCAL AUTHORITIES LOOK LIKE?

Each of the new unitary authorities in Kent would serve a minimum of 500,000 Kent residents each.

These could be formed according to the rough geography of the county, by taking existing council areas and grouping them into North, East and West regions. For example, the West region could merge Maidstone, Tonbridge and Malling, Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells council areas.

Much of this detail of what each unitary authority will do has yet to be worked out but they may be responsible for the services district and borough councils currently provide, such as collecting the bins and managing car parks.

There may be significant job losses as the new system comes in but unions will hope that as many people as possible will be absorbed into the unitary authorities or shed through early retirement and natural wastage, thus making the need for compulsory redundancies kept to a minimum.

4. WHAT IS THE TIME FRAME?

The government and the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner are keen to get the process of electing a mayor going quickly. This could see an election for a mayor in Kent as soon as May 2026 and the new unitary authorities in place by 2027 or 2028. All 14 local councils which once ran Kent in the old “two tier” system will be dismantled and shut down.

 

5. WILL KENT COUNTY COUNCIL ELECTIONS GO AHEAD?

This will be a decision for the government. If Kent is accepted on the fast track ‘priority’ programme by the government, the elections in May 2025 may be cancelled but only this can be decided by the local government minister, Jim McMahon, not by KCC or other local councils. He will make that decision in the coming weeks.

 

6. WHAT ARE THE DOWNSIDES?

Unravelling 14 different local councils and creating three or more new large ones will be very complex and difficult to complete. Carving up services and allocating them equally across the new councils could lead to conflict, say critics.

Local government directly employs an estimated 15,000 plus people in Kent and it is thought there may be significant job losses, although trade unions will seek to minimise those.

Higher pay grades, such as chief executives and directors, will be drastically reduced in number. Some observers believe artificial intelligence (AI) may be able to absorb some of the roles in council work.

Opposition parties in Kent are unhappy the May 2025 elections might be cancelled, saying the people would be refused their democratic right to vote.  Observers are also concerned the new local authority patches served by elected councillors will be too big and impersonal.

Although it is hoped Kent residents will not notice the changes and that the transition will be smooth, few believe there will be no glitches.