Get Ready for 2026… Local Government Reorganisation
As part of our December “Get Ready for 2026” Programme, our fourth focus area is Local Government Reorganisation.
You can catch up on recent developments and find out about our upcoming “Local Government Reorganisation Update for VCSE Organisations” webinar, provided by Gloucestershire County Council below.
What is Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)?
Local Government Reorganisation is the process in which the structure and responsibilities of local authorities are reconfigured.
The English Devolution White Paper also sets out that new, larger unitary authorities will replace district, borough and county councils.
In the south-west of England, only Gloucestershire and Devon have a two-tier system. All the other counties and cities are run by unitary councils.
Where are we in the process?
On the 28th November, Gloucestershire councils made a joint submission to government on proposals for the future of local government in the county supported by a letter reflecting the level of collaboration and joint working in the county. You can read the letter here: LGR-submission-covering-letter.pdf
A summary of the decision of each council is below:
| Council | Recommendation to Government |
|---|---|
| Cheltenham Borough Council | Two unitary (East/West) |
| Cotswold District Council | One unitary |
| Forest of Dean District Council | None (not supportive of LGR) |
| Gloucester City Council | Two unitary – Greater Gloucester/Gloucestershire Unitary |
| Gloucestershire County Council | One unitary |
| Stroud District Council | One unitary |
| Tewkesbury Borough Council | One unitary |
You can read each of the three proposals here:
One Unitary Authority
This proposal includes a letter from Matt Lennard, CEO of Gloucestershire VCSE Alliance on behalf of the VCSE Strategic Partnership and ILP Representatives (page 180).
Two Unitary Councils (East/West)
Two Unitary Council (Greater Gloucester/Rest of county)
https://futuregloucestershire.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/GG-and-GU-final.pdf
Government is now reviewing the proposals submitted, and a final decision is expected by summer 2026, with the new structure being introduced from April 2028.
What can I do to prepare?
We’ve been saying this a lot in this “Get Ready for 2026” series, but there really is still a lot to be decided!
At this stage, it’s really important to keep up to date with changes as they’re announced:
You can receive the latest news from Gloucestershire County Council by email, by signing-up via this link Latest news (This is a really useful service for many things, not just LGR, so we’d highly recommend it)
You can subscribe to our mailings here: Gloucestershire VCSE Alliance Mailing List Our weekly News Bulletin shares updates relevant to the VCSE sector.
Book onto our upcoming “Local Government Reorganisation Update for VCSE Organisations” webinar, hosted by senior leaders at Gloucestershire County Council (28 January 2026, 6pm - 7pm):
Further information and training
The dedicated website for LGR in Gloucestershire is called “Future Gloucestershire” and can be viewed here: Future Gloucestershire : Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation in Gloucestershire.
You can read more about LGR (not specific to Gloucestershire) on the Local Government Association website here: Local Government Reorganisation engagement toolkit | Local Government Association
Our next instalment (17th December) will look at Cyber Security and Artifical Intelligence…