Posted on Thursday 27th February 2025
Alan White
Early proposals for how councils in Staffordshire could be reorganised in response to government plans have been published today.
Staffordshire County Council’s outline plans to create two new councils - a new council for Staffordshire and a Mayoral Strategic Authority - are being put forward at a Cabinet meeting on 5 March 2025.
This is in response to the government’s English Devolution White Paper which was published in December and set out the government’s ambition to simplify the way local councils work as part of wider plans to move powers from Whitehall to local areas.
The White Paper advocates for the creation of new unitary councils – single councils that provide all council services in their area – to replace councils in ‘two-tier’ areas, where council services are provided by a combination of county and district or borough councils.
Councils in Staffordshire, including Stoke-on-Trent City Council were asked by Jim McMahon, the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution, to submit outline plans for reorganisation to government by 21 March 2025.
The proposal being considered by the county council’s Cabinet includes:
- A new Mayoral Strategic Authority to cover the whole county, including Stoke-on-Trent.
- A new Staffordshire unitary council to provide services in areas currently run jointly by the county council and Staffordshire’s district and borough councils.
Alan White, Leader of Staffordshire County Council, said:
Two-tier local government works in Staffordshire – it strikes the right balance between countywide strategic services and local council services that meet the needs of our different communities.
The government are clear however, that they want to see this replaced with fewer, bigger unitary councils in the future.
With this in mind, and despite having just a few weeks to prepare, we’re responding proactively with an outline proposal which aims to do a number of important things.
First and foremost, we want to unlock extra powers and funding from Westminster to boost our local economy. We are already bucking the trend – with unemployment levels and business survival rates outperforming regional averages – but our ambition is to push further on this with the Mayoral Strategic Authority.
When it comes to local government reorganisation, our priority is to ensure that people across the whole county can continue to receive good quality, value for money services which recognise and meet the needs of local communities.
A new Staffordshire unitary would be set up for success, streamlining services which are built on a legacy of well-run, financially stable councils able to invest in their communities. At the same time, vital services that people depend on – such as social care – would not be dismantled, with all the risk that that could entail.”
Subject to Cabinet approval, the outline proposal will be put forward for consideration at Staffordshire County Council’s Full Council meeting on March 13, 2025.
More detailed proposals for local government reorganisation must be submitted to government by November 28, 2025. The earliest that changes are expected to be fully implemented is 2028.
Alan continued:
It’s important to know that nothing has yet been agreed for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. This is just the start of a significant change that will take many years before it is complete.
There are alternative proposals from neighbouring councils and we will judge these on their individual merits. As we work towards submitting more detailed proposals in the autumn, we will be guided by what the evidence tells us is in the best interests of Staffordshire’s people. They are our priority.”
People can read more about devolution and local government reorganisation on the county council’s website.