Plans to replace Staffordshire councils paused by Government after legal advice

Plans to replace Stafford Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council with a new unitary authority have been paused after the Government launched a review of local government reorganisation.

The announcement on Monday 7 September comes less than two months after ministers confirmed that Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent would be divided between two new councils.

Under that original decision, Stone would have become part of a new South Staffordshire authority covering Stafford Borough, East Staffordshire, Cannock Chase, Lichfield, Tamworth and South Staffordshire.

A second northern authority would have covered Newcastle under Lyme, Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire Moorlands.

The ten existing county, city, district and borough councils across Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent were due to be replaced, with elections to new shadow councils in May 2027 before the new authorities took over services in April 2028.

That timetable has now been thrown into doubt.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said decisions affecting 14 areas, including Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent, are being paused and reviewed following updated legal advice.

Decisions affecting Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk have been withdrawn altogether.

The Government has also said local elections due in May 2027 will go ahead on existing council boundaries.

For Stone, Stafford Borough Council currently lists its next scheduled election as May 2027. Under the previous reorganisation timetable, elections that month were instead expected to elect councillors to the new shadow authority.

There are no immediate changes to council services as a result of the announcement.

The latest development comes just three days after councils across Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent announced that they were creating voluntary joint committees to begin preparing for the two new authorities.

Those committees were intended to oversee planning until the shadow councils were established following the May 2027 elections, with their first meetings expected in late October.

Councillor Martin Murray, Leader of Staffordshire County Council, criticised the Government’s latest decision.

“This is an eleventh-hour decision from Government, made with little warning and even less detail.

“Councils across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have worked flat out to meet Government’s timetable, following their rules. To pause now wastes time, drains capacity and undermines confidence.

“The timetable is broken. Government must stop wasting our time and energy, give councils straight answers and put devolution first.”

Local government reorganisation and devolution are separate, although related, parts of the Government’s plans for local government.

All ten councils in Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent submitted an expression of interest in March to create a Foundation Strategic Authority covering the whole area.

That would provide a strategic body covering areas including transport, skills, employment support, planning and economic development. Stafford Borough Council’s latest published information says the councils are still awaiting a Government decision on that proposal.

Councillor Murray added:

“Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent need a strategic authority, a stronger voice and the power to make decisions locally. We will keep pressing for that.”

The Government’s review means the future structure of local government in Staffordshire and the timetable for any eventual change are once again uncertain.