Agenda and draft minutes

To provide a Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) progress update for the Peterborough and Cambridgeshire area and for Members to review and advise Cabinet which of the five options to submit to Government by the deadline of 28 November 2025 to reorganise local government in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough as per the Government’s White Paper.

Members considered the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) progress update and which one of the five options to advise Cabinet to submit to Government to reorganise local government in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, presented by Councillor Boden. Councillor Boden stated that this is probably the most important debate that members have because it will impact upon how Fenland’s area and its residents are going to be governed in at least the next decade ahead. He reminded members that this came about in December last year when Government without any forewarning produced a white paper, which they called devolution but that is a matter of opinion, and in that they said that within England all of the areas which have two tier local government would be unitarized.

Councillor Boden stated that this announcement came out of the blue and it is not as though local government reform is not needed as structural reform is required but for them to do this in the way that the Government has done it, in his view, is really counterproductive because the one thing which is certain about this across the country is that there will be a worst structure after this reorganisation process than there is now but Government is intent on pushing it through and forwards. He predicts that within 10 years the whole process will be undertaken again because what is being created just will not work.

Councillor Boden expressed the view that it is difficult to reform local government as over the last 190 years there have been at least 7 big attempts to change local government and those attempts have largely failed because it is such a difficult process to go through. He added that almost the major comprehensive changes to local government in England that have taken place have occurred after a royal commission has been established to go through the whole process of examining all the evidence to look at the alternatives and to come up with recommendations to Government.

Councillor Boden stated that long serving members of this Council may recall after the great reform act which changed the Parliamentary elections, a royal commission was set up to reform local government and that reform resulted in the landmark Municipal Corporation Act 1835 which was the first time really that local government was set up in an elected way and the way that people are used to. He continued that this basic structure lasted for about 50 years until the local government acts of 1888 and 1894 came in and they fundamentally changed local government again and after many years of discussion and of consideration about how change should take place and that itself lasted another 50-60 years until the changes came in 1965 for London and in 1974 for the rest of England under the Local Government Act 1972, which provides the structure that exists now.

Councillor Boden expressed the opinion that this proposal by Government to unitarize everyone has been rushed through and there are so many missed  ...  view the full minutes text for item C35/25