Council Leader Phil Bialyk said he was disappointed with the pause in Local Government Reorganisation but said he understands the government’s need to review the decisions made.

https://news.exeter.gov.uk

Communities Secretary Angela Rayner announced in Parliament that Devon is one of 14 areas nationally which will be reviewed and paused.

The government confirmed local elections in May 2027 would go ahead on existing council boundaries, meaning Exeter City Council elections will be held as usual in May 2027.

The Communities Secretary told MPs that in light of legal advice, she must be satisfied that the right process is in place, that it is robust, and complies with the law.

She also said that she wanted to fully test whether the proposals for local government reorganisation meet the priorities of the new administration and new prime minister.

Cllr Bialyk said: “I’m disappointed that Exeter’s long wait for unitary status will now be delayed while this review takes place.

“But I understand that there needs to a review because the new prime minister and new administration need to be satisfied that the decisions made are the right ones and that the right processes were followed.

“It is very important that we get this right, because it is too good an opportunity to miss for Exeter and for the rest of Devon.

“Local Government Reorganisation is the biggest change for Exeter for more than 50 years, and we have no doubt that our joint submission with Plymouth for change in Devon – which was supported by the government – remains the right one for all residents and communities in the county.”

In July the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government approved the joint proposal by Exeter and Plymouth city councils to create four new unitary authorities for the county.

The new unitary councils approved were:

An expanded Exeter – Exeter plus 49 surrounding parishes from Teignbridge, East Devon and Mid Devon

An expanded Plymouth – Plymouth plus 13 parishes from South Hams

An expanded Torbay – Torbay plus 21 nearby parishes

Devon Coast and Countryside – a new council designed for rural and coastal communities

The Government’s announcement to review the reorganisation of local government has received cross-party support from Devon County Council.

www.devon.gov.uk

Devon County Council Leader Julian Brazil welcomed the decision to pause the plans to create four unitary councils across Devon as “great news” while others said the decision provided “hope”.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner MP told Parliament this afternoon that the decision follows legal advice. She said that effective local government is the foundation of the Government’s devolution plans. The intention of the review is to ensure the process was robust and that reorganisation meets the priorities of new Prime Minster Andy Burnham.

Councillor Julian Brazil, Leader of the Council, said:

“This is good news for the people of Devon. We now seem to have a Prime Minister who listens and this is a mature decision by the Government. We can work with a Government that listens.

“There’s no doubt LGR has been costly, but it has been the catalyst to deliver reforms to streamline local government, and we’re working well with district councils on that. We have said all along that you need to let us do it our way. We are best placed to deliver that.

“If the government wants a strong economy, you can’t mess up local government which is one of the building blocks to achieve that. We need a mayoral system to deliver a strong economy.”

Councillor Michael Fife Cook, Leader of the opposition at Devon County Council, said:

“The older you get, the more you end up cherishing messages of sanity and hope. The rethinking on LGR is not just for my generation to be thankful, future generations will come to realise, you don’t throw away a whole system for a few faults, we now have the opportunity to try harder for the future of Devon, and not to waste £80 million on rebranding and reinventing the wheel. This has been a good day for us all.”

In the announcement in Parliament today Angela Rayner MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said the Government is committed to reorganisation but working “with local people”.

She said: “The Prime Minister told the House last week, he was ‘prepared to look at local government reorganisation’ and he asked me as his Communities Secretary to ‘do that’.

“In that context, in light of legal advice, I want to satisfy myself firstly that the right process is in place, that it is robust, and of course complies with the law. And secondly, I want to fully test whether our proposals for local government reorganisation meet the priorities of a new administration and a new Prime Minister.”

The Government also withdrew local government reorganisation decisions made in March for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

It was confirmed that local elections will go ahead in May 2027 on existing council boundaries.