LGR consultation

Consultation on local government reorganisation in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Government Consultation - 5 February to 26 March 2026

Communities across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are encouraged to take part in a once-in-a-generation consultation on the future of local government across the county.

The government is asking for people's views on the four different proposals submitted in response to its plans to reorganise the seven Cambridgeshire councils into new unitary authorities responsible for all local services.

How to respond

You may respond to the consultation by completing the online survey

Alternatively, you can email your response to the survey questions to: LGRconsultationresponse@Communities.gov.uk (please make it clear which proposal you are responding to).

If you don't have online access, you are welcome to complete a paper copy of the survey. These will be available at:

Chatteris, March, Whittlesey and Wisbech libraries
Fenland Hall, March
South Fens Business Centre, Chatteris
Boathouse Business Centre, Wisbech

Paper copies of the survey must be sent directly to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to be counted:

LGR Consultation
Fry Building 2NE
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

Proposals being consulted on

The four proposals being consulted on were submitted to government on 28 November 2025. They are:

Proposal 1 (referred to locally as Option B): Cambridge City Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council proposed two unitary councils. These would comprise the district areas of:

North Cambridgeshire and Peterborough: Peterborough, Huntingdonshire, East Cambridgeshire, and Fenland
Greater Cambridge: Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire

Proposal 2 (referred to locally as Option A): Cambridgeshire County Council proposed two unitary councils. These would comprise the district areas of:

North West: Peterborough, Fenland, and Huntingdonshire
South East: Cambridge City, East Cambridgeshire, and South Cambridgeshire

Proposal 3 (referred to locally as Option E): Huntingdonshire District Council proposed three unitary councils. These would comprise the district areas of:

North East: Peterborough, Fenland, and East Cambridgeshire
Central Huntingdonshire: Huntingdonshire
South West: Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire

Proposal 4 (referred to locally as Option D): Peterborough City Council and Fenland District Council proposed three unitary councils. This includes a request to split existing district council areas between the proposed new councils. These would comprise the district areas of:

Greater Peterborough: Peterborough and 9 wards from Huntingdonshire
Mid Cambridgeshire: Fenland, East Cambridgeshire, and 17 wards from Huntingdonshire
Greater Cambridge: Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire

The consultation asks questions about each proposal to help inform the assessment of the proposals.

What happens next

The consultation will inform an assessment by the Secretary of State of the merits of the proposals.

All proposals received from councils will be considered carefully, alongside all consultation responses and any other relevant information, before a decision is taken on how to proceed, including whether or not to implement a proposal, with or without modification. In deciding which proposal, if any, to implement in an area, subject to Parliamentary approval, the Secretary of State will assess the proposals against the criteria set out in the statutory guidance accompanying the invitation, as well as having regard to all representations received, including responses to this consultation, and to all other relevant information available.

The government is expected to make its final decision in the summer, with elections to the new shadow council(s) in May 2027 and the council(s) going live in April 2028.

Fenland District Council's preferred proposal: Option D

Fenland District Council supports the arguments put forward by Peterborough City Council explaining their support for the Option D configuration of new unitary authorities in preference to the other options.

In addition, the Council believes Option D should be preferred because:

Option D is the only proposal which does not include both Fenland and Peterborough - the two most deprived areas in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough - in the same unitary authority. Given their worsening deprivation levels in both the 2019 and 2025 IMD rankings, combining them into a single unitary authority would create an unsustainably high concentration of need. Option D is the only arrangement that avoids placing this burden on one new authority.
The proposed grouping of Fenland, East Cambridgeshire, and the southern and eastern parts of Huntingdonshire creates a single unitary authority that naturally brings together fen market towns and their surrounding rural areas. There is a strong community of interest across the area. For this reason, the unitary authority should be appropriately named the 'Cambridgeshire Fens Unitary Authority' (CFUA) rather than 'Mid Cambridgeshire' to better reflect that common heritage.
The proposed CFUA area consists of many market towns across the historic peat fens, an area where active water management (including flood prevention) is essential. The area contains a high number of Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs), with the new authority needing well over 100 statutory nominations to these bodies. Because councillors play a crucial role in overseeing this complex drainage and water‑management system, the CFUA would require more councillors than other similarly sized proposed unitary authorities.
Option D aligns closely with how the area naturally divides socially and economically. It reflects the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Independent Economic Review (CPIER) report's three-way split between Greater Peterborough, Greater Cambridge and the Fens. It also reflects the way community transport services have organically developed into three distinct areas. Overall, Option D best reflects the area's genuine communities of interest.

View the Option D proposal: Option D Business Case

Read a letter to the Secretary of State from Fenland District Council leader, Cllr Chris Boden: Cllr Boden LGR Submission Letter to Govt - Nov 2025 (PDF, 126 KB)

Joint LGR engagement survey - summer 2025

The seven Cambridgeshire councils ran an initial joint survey, from 19 June 2025 and 20 July 2025, asking residents for general feedback about local government and their future priorities.

There are three reports that were produced following this survey, which outline details of what people said during the engagement: