Trumpington Liberal Democrats

Local Government Reorganisation

We were extremely disappointed to learn that the government has postponed their announcements of plans for unitary Councils around Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. They only announced the delay on the day they had previously promised to release their plans to the public.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government wrote a letter to local government leaders, with little justification for this delay. This was met by angry responses from our local MPs over the uncertainty this creates for Council staff, Councillors and businesses. This frustration was also expressed by Cambridge Lib Dem leader Cllr Tim Bick at a Full Council meeting.

What is local government reorganisation?

At the moment, local services in Cambridgeshire are split across two different councils:

  • The County Council runs services like social care, highways, and education.
  • District and City Councils run services like bin collections, housing, and planning.

Local Government Reorganisation would bring these together into new “unitary” councils, where a single council delivers all services in its area.

Cambridgeshire County currently contains five “district councils” (Cambridge City Council being one of those, plus South Cambridgeshire, East Cambridgeshire, Fenland, and Huntingdonshire), and Peterborough is already a unitary council.

The aim is to merge these district councils and Peterborough into two or three new unitary councils.

Which options were proposed?

In total, four proposals were submitted to government by the Cambridgeshire councils. Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire both support “Option B”, i.e. these two councils merging into one unitary council, and the remaining four (East Cambridgeshire, Fenland, Huntingdonshire, Peterborough) forming a second one. Cambridgeshire County Council supports “Option A”, where East Cambridgeshire join Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire in one unitary council.

Cambridge City Council held an extraordinary council meeting on 20 November 2025 to debate the options (watch recording). Watch Cllr Hauk’s speech at the meeting, where he supports the proposal but warns about weakened links between residents and the Council.

When would this happen?

The current timetable is:

  • Summer 2026: The government will make a final decisionabout which option to implement.
  • May 2027: Elections to a new “shadow” council (which prepares for the change).
  • 2027: After the Government chooses a final option, ward boundaries and number of councillors per ward will be worked out through an independent review with public consultation.
  • May 2028: The new unitary council(s) formally take over services.