Elections in half of England's county councils could also be delayed

The BBC can reveal that greater than half of the county councils in England, the place elections are to be held this yr, might search to postpone the votes.

Ministers could also be requested to delay ballots to discover choices set in not less than 12 of the 21 county councils because of be elected in May. Major redesign of native authorities The announcement was made in December.

The authorities has set Friday as a deadline for sectors to point out curiosity within the first tranche of devolution schemes.

But delaying the election would depart tens of millions of voters “deprived of their local democracy”, in response to the District Council Network, which represents smaller native authorities.

The authorities mentioned that no resolution has been taken.

Elections are to be held in 21 county council areas in England in May, in addition to elections for some unitary authorities and a few regional mayors.

When it introduced its devolution plans in December, the federal government recommended that a few of these elections, notably these for county councils, is likely to be delayed by a yr or extra. Scheduled mayor elections is not going to be affected.

Under plans introduced by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Smaller district councils and bigger county councils could also be merged to type a single council to deal with all companies.

Ministers see the restructuring of native authorities as a key a part of their plan to switch powers from Westminster to native communities.

Local Government Minister Jim McMahon wrote to councils within the affected areas asking them to precise their curiosity in collaborating.

A variety of councils are holding pressing conferences this week to resolve whether or not to proceed.

County councils which have indicated they’re and will postpone the election embrace:

• devon
• East Sussex
• essex
• gloucestershire
• hampshire
• kent
• norfolk
• Suffolk
• Surrey
• warwickshire
• West Sussex
• Worcestershire

Ministers will take the ultimate resolution on whether or not native elections must be postponed or not.

Cllr Kevin Bentley, Conservative chief of Essex County Council, mentioned it was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve outcomes for Essex”.

Cllr Tim Oliver, Conservative chief of Surrey County Council, mentioned: “We are grateful to the residents of Surrey for getting the best possible devolution deal for our county.”

The elections in May would be the first electoral check for the Labor Party for the reason that social gathering took energy at Westminster in July final yr, and an vital gauge of public temper.

Zia Yousaf, chairman of Reform UK, criticized potential delays, saying: “Labor and the Tories are so afraid of the rise of Reform that they are colluding to rob the British people of their democratic rights.”

Rayner informed a choose committee this week it might be “ridiculous” for councils to carry elections in the event that they had been planning to reorganize their buildings.

But mentioned the Government was not “dictating” what ought to occur in council areas.

The earlier Conservative authorities delayed native elections in North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Somerset in 2021 whereas councils in these areas had been present process reorganisation.

But some native leaders have raised objections to the present plans.

The District Council Network claimed that ministers had “rushed through” proposals to reorganize native authorities and had been depriving residents of a say.

Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen, chair of the organisation, mentioned: “The cancellation of local elections comes after the Government neglected to mention in its general election manifesto that it was trying to take power away from communities by replacing district councils with mega councils. Is.

“Democracy is being sidelined and local voters are being deprived of any democratic opportunity to have their say on a major reorganisation, which will have far-reaching effects on the fate of thousands of English towns and villages.”

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson mentioned: “No decision has been taken on postponing the election.

“We will only consider postponing elections for areas where the relevant council has requested and where it helps to restructure and devolve a region in the most ambitious timescales.”