Some local elections 'may not take place' next years as changes made but 'shadow councils' could be created

Minister refuses to rule out the cancellation of some local elections

By EJ Ward

Some local elections next year may not go ahead as planned under the Government's plans for devolution as local authorities could be closed or merged, a minister has admitted.

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Jim McMahon, local government minister, said he would set out the details of that this afternoon in Parliament when asked if all local county council and unitary authority elections due to take place in May would go ahead.

Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast he said: "At the moment, the assumption is that elections are going ahead. However, it's usual in a process of reorganisation, that when a council makes a request for reorganisation, that if there are elections taking place, to a council that essentially won't exist within the term of those elections, then you hold off the elections and you elect to a shadow body and the shadow body basically is a form of the new councils that will follow."

Some local authorities have already requested reorganisation, he said.

Asked if some local authorities would be closed or merged, he said: "That's the nature of reorganisation."

There will be a statutory consultation before any authorities are changed, he said.

"This is about local areas coming to government to say: 'We want to be part of this devolution agenda. We want reorganisation as part of that,'" he said.

He also said merging councils under the Government's devolution plans could save £2 billion, local government minister Jim McMahon has said.

There are only 21 counties still with a two-tier system of local government and many areas where regional mayors are working with local councils, he said during an interview on Good Morning Britain.

"Where we are looking at reorganisation is to reflect the reality, which is that there are efficiencies that can be made by bringing councils together that could amount to over £2 billion.

"And if it's a choice between £2 billion in the running cost of an organisation or £2 billion on frontline neighbourhood services, I would say that most of the public want that investment in the frontline."