Local government reorganisation and devolution

In December 2024, the government set out plans for how they’d like to move powers from central to local government across England. They call this ‘devolution’.  

A big part of their plan for this involves reorganising the way local councils work. 

The government’s plans are set out in a document called the English Devolution White Paper. 

We’ve summarised the important points for you below. 

Devolution

What is devolution and what's the government's plan around this?

Devolution means giving more power and decision-making authority to local and regional governments.

It's about shifting power away from the central government in Westminster and putting it in the hands of people closer to the communities they serve.

Some of the key features of the government’s plans for devolution are:

• Strategic Authorities: These are groups of local councils working together to cover larger areas. Think of them as regional governing bodies. Many areas already have Combined Authorities, which would become Strategic Authorities. The government’s goal is to eventually have Strategic Authorities covering all of England.

• Mayors: The government strongly believes in having directly elected mayors to lead these Strategic Authorities. They see mayors as strong, visible leaders who can drive change and be held accountable by the public.

• Funding: Strategic Authorities, particularly those led by mayors, would receive more funding from central government. This would give them more control over how money is spent locally.

• Powers: Devolution would give Strategic Authorities more control over key areas that affect people's lives, things like transport, housing, skills, and economic development.

Local Government Reorganisation

What is Local Government Reorganisation and what's the Government's plan around this?

Local government reorganisation basically means changing the way local government is structured – the number and size of councils and who is responsible for what.

Right now, in many parts of England, there are two or more levels of council:

• County councils: These cover larger areas and deal with things like education, social care, and transportation.

• District or borough councils: These cover smaller areas within counties and handle things like local planning, housing, and waste collection.

• Parish and town councils: These councils may look after very local amenities such as allotments, public clocks, play areas and equipment.

In Staffordshire, we have:

• Staffordshire County Council, which covers the whole of Staffordshire.

• Eight district and borough councils. These are South Staffordshire District Council, Lichfield District Council, Cannock Chase District Council, Stafford Borough Council, Newcastle Under-Lyme Borough Council, East Staffordshire Borough Council, Tamworth Borough Council and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.

• 180 town and parish councils.

• We also have a small unitary council - Stoke-on-Trent City Council. They are responsible for providing all council services in their area.

Local government reorganisation aims to simplify the way local government works by:

• Creating unitary councils: These would be single councils responsible for all local government services within a particular area, replacing the two-tier system
• Ensuring councils are a suitable size to be efficient and effective: The government thinks that there should be at least 500,000 residents in most new unitary councils.

What does devolution and local government reorganisation mean for Staffordshire?

The government’s plans may lead to fewer councils in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the future and changes to what each council is responsible for.

All the same services will still need to be provided, but this may be by a number of newly formed unitary authorities and a Strategic Authority, rather than the ten councils that currently operate across the county and city.

The government thinks that new unitary authorities should provide services for around 500,000 people. They think that new Strategic Authorities should cover around 1.5 million people.

Exactly what this looks like for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent has not been agreed at this early stage.

Leaders and Chief Executives of councils across the county and city have started to discuss what the options are and what would bring the biggest benefit to our residents and businesses.

Town or parish councils will not be affected structurally by the changes.

Staffordshire County Council's online proposal (February 2025)

We believe that two-tier local government works in Staffordshire – it strikes the right balance between countywide strategic services and local council services that meet the needs of our different communities. The government are clear however, that they want to see this replaced with fewer, bigger unitary councils in the future.

On 27 February 2025, we published an outline proposal which was considered by Cabinet Members at a meeting on 5 March. This was approved and will now be taken to a meeting of Full Council on 13 March.

In brief, our proposal is to create: 

• A new Mayoral Strategic Authority to cover the whole county, including Stoke-on-Trent. 
• A new Staffordshire unitary council to provide services in areas currently run jointly by the county council and Staffordshire’s district and borough councils. 

Why we're proposing this

We believe that this way of working would: 

• unlock extra powers and funding from Westminster to boost our local economy further,
• set the new unitary council up for success by building on a strong foundation – well-run councils which are financially stable and able to invest in their communities and
• ensure that people depending on vital services like social care continue to get what they need without unnecessary disruption.

Interim plan submitted to government (March 2025)

On 21 March 2025, we submitted our proposal as part of an interim plan for local government reorganisation to government.

Read The Staffordshire Leaders’ Board interim plan for local government reorganisation (238 KB)

What happens next?

There’s still lots of work to do before any reorganisation of councils and responsibilities takes place.

Full proposals will need to be submitted to government by 28 November 2025.

As we work towards submitting these more detailed proposals in the autumn, we will be guided by what the evidence tells us is in the best interests of Staffordshire’s people.

The whole process of change will take a number of years and the earliest we’d expect to see changes fully up and running is 2028.

As such, the county council elections will go ahead as planned in May 2025.

How we'll keep you updated

Any change will take several years to work through.

Proposals will be considered as part of an open and democratic process, including public cabinet meetings and council meetings.

There will also be opportunities for people across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to share their views.

You can follow the latest updates on the Staffordshire Newsroom and on our social media channels.

You can also sign up for MyStaffordshire, a fortnightly email update delivered to your inbox. 

Frequently Asked Questions