Council reorganisation 'a dog's dinner', says Farage

The leader of Reform UK says reorganising local government across the east of England has not been properly thought through and is deeply unpopular with local people.

Nigel Farage said the plans to replace the district and county council system with one-tier unitary authorities was a "dog's dinner" that would disadvantage rural areas and be costly.

He was speaking as Reform-run Suffolk County Council became the latest authority to take the plans to judicial review claiming the decision to give the county three unitary authorities was politically motivated.

The government said the plans had been carefully considered and would help to speed up infrastructure delivery and boost regional growth.

Speaking as Reform held a rally in Norwich, Farage told the BBC: "We want to stop a very badly thought through reorganisation that I doubt will save money or make things more efficient and will definitely leave rural and coastal areas behind the concerns and priorities of the big cities."

Under the local government reorganisation (LGR) plans Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex would see all their existing councils abolished in 2028 and replaced with five unitary authorities in Essex, and three each for Norfolk and Suffolk.

Plans for Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, which are in the second wave of counties in LGR, are due to be announced next month.

Farage, who is the MP for Clacton in Essex, claimed the proposals were expensive, did not have public support and would disadvantage rural and coastal areas.

"This is a Labour government that doesn't understand that people have an emotional connection to the historic counties of this country and there's nothing in these proposals that I can see that will be good," he said.

"It won't even save money. It's a dog's dinner, a bad idea."

Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex county councils, which are all run by Reform, and Conservative-run Hampshire County Council, have decided to pursue a judicial review opposing the plans.

The plans are not unpopular with everyone. Many district councils are still supportive of the government's proposals and have attacked the decision to take legal action.

Tom McCabe, chief executive of Norfolk County Council, its top officer, unexpectedly resigned last week.

Farage suggested at the rally that McCabe's departure may have been linked to the councillors' decision to stop work on the reorganisation plans and take legal action.

Challenging the government's decision could be expensive for the councils, but Farage said: "We are up for this fight. We won the last battle [to stop the government cancelling this year's local elections] and we're going to win this one'.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said that decisions on LGR had been made "transparently and in line with the published criteria – not on a party political basis".

"Our plans will speed up the construction of new homes and infrastructure, improve public services and boost regional growth to put more money in people's pockets."

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