On Thursday 29th October 2026, Jim McMahon OBE MP, Minister for Local Government, announced that the Government is to press ahead with the reorganisation of local government in England. The programme had been set to replace all the remaining two-tier (county council and district council) areas with a system of unitary councils, but was paused in September to be reconsidered in the light of the new administration’s devolution agenda. Mr McMahon has now announced that the process will continue, announcing decisions for five areas immediately and promising the rest in the new year.
The Minister said that the Government “is now minded-to go ahead with reorganisation in five areas. There will be a period of three weeks minimum for further representations before final decisions are taken”. These five areas will continue the approach of replacing two-tier local government with smaller unitary councils. They will see the abolition of Oxfordshire County Council, Warwickshire County Council and Worcestershire County Council and their replacement by two or more unitary councils.
The Association of British Counties (ABC) wants to see local government throughout the UK be given a totally distinct identity to that of the historic counties. We want to see an end to the use of the word “county” and the phrase “county council” in local government terminology and parlance and an end to the inappropriate use of historic county names by local authorities. As such, we are overjoyed to learn of the end of the fake 1974 local government “counties” that have absurdly borne the unqualified names “Oxfordshire“, “Warwickshire” and “Worcestershire” for over half a century.
In the first of Mr McMahon’s five decisions, the current Oxfordshire County Council will be abolished along with the unitary West Berkshire Council, their combined area being formed into three new unitary councils. The current Oxfordshire County Council is infamous for having a wildly inappropriate name, its area including a huge area in the north-west of Berkshire.
Whilst two of the successor unitary councils do cover parts of both counties, the provisional names (Greater Oxford Council and Ridgeway Council) are sensibly neutral as far as the counties are concerned. The name North Oxfordshire Council is entirely reasonable for the third council.
Mr McMahon’s second decision to split the current Warwickshire County Council area into two new unitary councils, almost certainly to be called North Warwickshire Council and South Warwickshire Council.
The current Warwickshire County Council, set up in 1974, has one of the most outrageous of all local government names. Its area excludes the entire populous north-west of the county, including Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull and Sutton Coldfield.
The Minister’s third decision is to split the current Worcestershire County Council area into two new unitary councils, probably to be called South Worcestershire Council and North Worcestershire Council. The current Worcestershire County Council was set up in 1998 after the abolition of Hereford and Worcester County Council, itself a creation of 1974. The council’s name is not ideal since its area excludes the populous north-east of the county.
Mr McMahon’s fourth decision is less to ABC’s liking since the Minister has decided that the current Gloucestershire County Council area shall be the basis for a single new unitary council. It seems highly likely that the new unitary council will end up being called Gloucestershire Council.
The current Gloucestershire County Council, as set up in 1974, has always excluded the southern part of the county. From 1974-1996 this area was under Avon County Council and has since been under the two unitary councils: South Gloucestershire Council and Bristol City Council. The bizarre set-up of having a Gloucestershire Council and an adjacent South Gloucestershire Council could be avoided by calling the new council North and West Gloucestershire Council. Ultimately the new council’s name will up to the council itself.
The fifth decision announced on 29th October is to make the current East Sussex County Council a single unitary council, although there will some adjustment of its border with the unitary Brighton and Hove Council. ABC has no issues with this so long as the new council is called “East Sussex Council“, i.e. the “County” part is dropped. No decision has yet been made about the current West Sussex County Council, though the previous plans saw this as being split into two unitary councils.
All the remaining 15 areas in which local government reorganisation will happen have now had earlier decisions “withdrawn”. However:
“Withdrawing these decisions does not mean reorganisation has been cancelled in these areas. All options and proposals remain under consideration in these areas and every area will have an outcome by early next year.”
The first five decisions show that the writing is on the wall for all of the remaining “county councils“. The Government clearly retains its commitment to see unitary local government established everywhere. Oxfordshire CC, Warwickshire CC and Worcestershire CC are three of the smallest county council areas by population but are still being split into two or more unitary councils each. Gloucestershire CC and East Sussex CC will each be the basis of single new unitary council.
However, all of the remaining “county councils” have much bigger populations than these councils. It is hard to imagine that any of them will be used as the basis for a single new unitary council. Other unloved 1974 local government “counties” such as “Lancashire“, “Cambridgeshire” or “Staffordshire” will surely be split up into several unitary councils.
The whole process has been delayed by a year from the timescale previously considered:
“Local elections in these areas will go ahead in May 2027 on existing council boundaries, providing certainty for local leaders and communities. New councils will be established for 2029, with elections to shadow councils in May 2028.”
We live in interesting times.