MPs' anger over delayed council reorganisation

A number of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough's MPs have expressed their anger and frustration, after the government failed to announce its plans for local government reform in the county.

A decision on which councils would be merged was due to be announced on Thursday.

However, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Steve Reed, said more time was needed to decide on the best way forward.

Peterborough's Labour MP, Andrew Pakes, said none of the four options proposed "were good enough" for the city, and he expected the delay to allow a second round of consultation. Four other local MPs also criticised the delay.

The government wants to remove two-tier local government. They asked local councils to come up with plans to merge into larger unitary authorities to save money and streamline services.

Four options were put forward for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

In all scenarios, Peterborough would have been joined together with parts of neighbouring Cambridgeshire.

The delayed announcement has angered a number of the area's MPs, who raised questions in the House of Commons after the announcement.

Conservative MP for Huntingdon, Ben Obese-Jecty, criticised the government for its lack of detail for the delay.

South Cambridgeshire's Liberal Democrat MP Pippa Heylings said there was "frustration" from local councils "at the chaos" caused by the delays.

She said there was "risk caused by so much left in limbo", adding the government "should have let the councils know before".

The Tory MP for North East Cambridgeshire, Steve Barclay, said it was a "flawed process" and criticised the announcement coming on the last day before the summer recess.

Charlotte Cane, the Lib Dem MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire, echoed those sentiments, saying the government had "months to go back to local representatives and local communities to discuss further and make sure they choose the right option".

However, Peterborough MP Pakes said the delay would allow a better deal for the city.

"I'd rather we got this right than rushed into answers that risks undermining the city, our communities or business," he said.

"I welcome the government's focus on sustainable growth and will work with them over the summer to see what the next stage of this process looks like.

"My focus now is on ensuring the best outcome for Peterborough, whether that is expanding the city or sticking with our existing boundaries."

Peterborough is already a unitary authority and Pakes said he would like to see the city's boundaries "stay the same or almost the same".

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it aimed to "make a decision on which option, if any, to implement by October at the latest".

The secretary of state, Steve Reed, repeatedly told Cambridgeshire MPs in the Commons that the elections for the new authorities would still take place in May next year.

They will be called "shadow elections" and the new councils are due to be up and running by 1 April 2028.

Between the elections and the launch day there will be a transition period, where services and staff will transfer to the new authorities.

However, there is some uncertainty for those timings.

Some councils elsewhere, such as Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, are asking for a judicial review. It is not known how long that process will take.

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