Devon council leaders have given a mixed response to the government's decision to pause its local government reorganisation plans. The move comes after councils had already spent millions preparing for the shake-up, which has now been put on hold.
Local democracy reporter Guy Henderson notes that Devon councils have already spent millions of pounds on preparations for the now-paused Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). The announcement was made yesterday, with Secretary of State Angela Rayner telling the House of Commons she was reviewing the plans following legal advice. It is estimated that councils have spent up to £1million each so far on LGR preparations.
Paul Arnott, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader of Devon County Council and leader of East Devon District Council, welcomed the pause but said the work had already run up huge bills. He said: "At both county and district levels, at least 30 per cent of officer capacity has been redirected to work on LGR, and that is multiple millions of pounds." Arnott gave credit to Prime Minister Andy Burnham for having "the good judgment and humility to pause and review the plans", but added: "The district councils and the county council have been left with an enormous bill for this."
Devon had been on course to split into four new unitary councils: an expanded Labour-led Exeter and Plymouth, an
Devon Leaders React to Government’s Pause on Council Shake-Up