In one of the last acts of the Starmer government, MHCLG Secretary of State Steve Reed today (16 July) announced Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) decisions and updates for (amongst other areas) Oxfordshire, Kent and East / West Sussex.
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire will be organised into three unitary authorities: “Greater Oxford Council” (the city plus expanded parishes from neighbouring districts), “Northern Oxfordshire Council,” and “Ridgeway Council” (incorporating most of South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse, and West Berkshire Council).
The selected three councils restructure was the model preferred by Labour-led Oxford City Council. They have made no secret of their aspiration to expand the city’s borders into the surrounding Green Belt, thereby potentially accommodating new housing growth. If Oxford Labour wins control of the new Greater Oxford Council when elections take place in 2027, this is likely to see significant Green Belt release around the city, a move that will prove highly controversial.
There had been proposals by Reading Borough Council to move wards in Tilehurst from West Berkshire / Ridgeway into Reading Borough. This proposal had been strongly criticised by West Berkshire and has not materialised as part of today’s announcement.
The proposed restructure has been criticised by Oxfordshire County Council, with Leader Tim Bearder stating it does not deliver on its vision to simplify and improve local government services.
Kent
Kent and Medway will be reorganised into four unitary authorities, based on the proposal submitted by Dover, Swale and Thanet district councils. The new geography comprises a North Kent authority (Dartford, Gravesham and Medway), a West Kent authority (Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Malling, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells), a Mid Kent authority (Swale, Ashford and Folkestone and Hythe) and an East Kent authority (Canterbury, Thanet and Dover). The decision rejects Kent County Council's preferred option of a single “Kent Council” covering the whole county including Medway, which KCC had argued would deliver the quickest savings for taxpayers.
The decision sets up a significant political confrontation. Reform UK-led KCC campaigned hard for the single unitary model, warning that a multi-council configuration could cost up to £40 million more each year to run, and its leadership could consider challenging the decision. Any challenge would follow an emerging pattern: Suffolk County Council began judicial review proceedings against its LGR decision, and Hampshire County Council's Conservative leader Nick Adams-King confirmed his administration would pursue the same route. With Reform positioning itself nationally as the party resisting Whitehall-imposed reorganisation, Kent may become the highest-profile test of whether the government's LGR timetable can withstand sustained legal and political opposition.
The Sussexes
After months of delay, East Sussex and Brighton and Hove finally has a decision. The area will be reorganised into two unitary authorities, based on the proposal submitted by East Sussex County Council together with Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes and Rother councils.
Significantly, the Secretary of State will modify the proposal to deliver the boundary expansion requested by Labour-led Brighton and Hove City Council, with the exception of Falmer parish. This continues the clear theme of this round of decisions: urban authorities seeking to grow beyond tightly drawn boundaries have largely got what they asked for.
West Sussex, by contrast, remains in limbo. Alongside Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, it is now one of only two areas in England without a decision, with the Secretary of State stating that further time is needed to get it right. This follows a consultation in May and June on a government-modified proposal that differed from all the options submitted locally. Opponents of the county's break-up, including Arundel and South Downs MP Andrew Griffith (Conservative), have welcomed the postponement, though the government insists it remains committed to elections in West Sussex in May 2027, with new councils operating from April 2028. For developers and landowners in the county, the uncertainty over which authorities will ultimately determine planning applications and prepare local plans continues.
Elsewhere in the wider South East and beyond
Hertfordshire will move to four unitary authorities, based on the district-led proposal, with boundary modifications. These decisions complete the picture for most of the South East and East, following the March announcements of five unitaries in Essex and five in Hampshire, and Surrey's two new authorities, which held shadow elections in May this year ahead of an accelerated April 2027 launch.
Across the remaining areas, the government has consistently favoured proposals put forward by cities and districts over county-preferred models, with expanded boundaries confirmed for Exeter, Plymouth, Leicester, Lincoln and Nottingham among others. The government has also confirmed transition support worth more than £1 million per new unitary authority.
