- Ministers wants Suffolk at the front of the queue
- Suffolk’s county, borough and district councils to be abolished
- Work starts on reorganisation plan for new unitary council or councils
- Government proposes postponing county elections to facilitate rapid change
- Mayor set to be elected in May 2026
Suffolk’s 50-year-old two-tier council structure is set to change with the government proposing to abolish county, borough and district councils and replace them with a new unitary council arrangement and a directly elected mayor.
Under the proposals, all six of Suffolk’s district, borough and county councils would be disbanded and just one authority would provide all councils services in an area. The government argues that unitary councils can deliver better outcomes for residents and save money that can be reinvested into public services.
Today in parliament, Angela Rayner MP, the deputy prime minister and secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, announced that Suffolk is one of only a handful of areas on the government’s new fast-track Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) which would also see the election of a mayor (covering Suffolk and Norfolk) in May 2026. The mayor would take control over strategic policy areas like transport infrastructure, economic development, health improvement and blue light services – along with devolved government funding to deliver positive change.
Devolution would happen alongside local government reorganisation in Suffolk.
Welcoming the announcement, Councillor Matthew Hicks, Suffolk County Council’s leader, said:
“By welcoming Suffolk onto the fast-track programme, ministers have recognised that we are serious about council reorganisation and devolution and able to deliver ambitious changes quickly.
“Devolution and council reorganisation will mean we can secure and free up funding to plough directly back into public services that benefit our residents.
“This is a major win for Suffolk and one that will be welcomed by those who want to see efficiency, accountability and streamlined delivery of council services. To achieve this, we want to work with residents, businesses and partners to deliver the best possible outcome for Suffolk.”
To facilitate change of this scale and at this pace, the government will table legislation to postpone Suffolk County Council’s May 2025 elections. This is the case in other areas currently undergoing devolution and reorganisation – a precedent set when areas such as Somerset, Cumbria and North Yorkshire underwent the same type of changes.
Last month, Suffolk County Councillors voted to put Suffolk forward for the DPP, following an invitation from ministers.
Now that Suffolk has been invited onto the DPP, the government will launch a public consultation on the devolution (mayoral) elements of their proposals. Simultaneously, Suffolk County Council will research, write, engage on locally and then submitted to government a detailed business case for council reorganisation. Areas only have until September 2025 to submit their complete plans. A government-led public consultation on the local government reorganisation proposals will follow the business case being submitted.
At this stage no decision has been made on whether Suffolk would be covered by a single or multiple unitary councils.
