Rutland Council 'surprised' by government pause on reorganisation

By Grace Kennington 8th Sep 2026

Local News by Grace Kennington 1 hour ago

Leader of Rutland County Council, Cllr Christine Wise has expressed her 'surprise' that the government will be reviewing local government reorganisation, temporarily ceasing work and allowing elections to go ahead in existing council boundaries.

Yesterday (7 September), the government announced that Ministers will be reviewing plans for local government reorganisation.

Angela Raynor, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government said: 'I want to satisfy myself firstly that the right progress is in place, that it is robust, and of course complies with the law.

'And secondly, I want to fully test whether our proposals for local government reorganisation meet the priorities of a new administration and the new Prime Minister and any additional considerations.'

Addressing this statement, Cllr Christine Wise said: 'The announcement that government will carry out a review of local government reorganisation (LGR) has come as a surprise to all of us.

'We don't have all the details yet, by the programme is now paused for local authorities that were the subject of decisions announced in July 2026. This includes Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.'

According to Cllr Wise, 'We are still to be told exactly what this involves or when the government will report back to councils on the outcome of its review. It is too early to speculate on what this might mean, but we must have clarity from the government as quickly as possible.

Councils are being asked to cease work on implementing LGR until the review is concluded and have also been told that elections scheduled for May 2027 will go ahead based on existing council boundaries.

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'Hundreds of thousands of people across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland are directly affected by local government reorganisation - whether that's residents, businesses or council workers.

'We need to know exactly what we are working towards and have absolute confidence in the process, so that we can support our communities in the right way.'

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