Details around the shape of new county council that will serve the Harborough district have now emerged

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has written to the chief executives of Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council and Rutland County Council to decide on the names of the new councils, following the recent approval of a major city expansion.

According to the letter seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the two new councils will initially be called Leicester Council and Leicestershire and Rutland Council.

However, ministers have said that local councils can change their names in the future if they have the support of two-thirds of their members.

Report suggest that Harborough will have one specific councillor on the Leicestershire County Council and one specific councillor on the Rutland County Council.

As we have previously reported, Harborough District Council (HDC) has backed plans for a new 'town council' that would work underneath the new councils.

In total, the Leicester committee will have 16 councillors, with eight representing the city, four county councillors and four representing Charnwood, Harborough, Oadby and Wigston and Blaby.

The Leicestershire committee will also have 16 councillors, with eight county councillors, two from Rutland and six from the district and borough councils, including North West Leicestershire, Charnwood, Melton, Hinckley and Bosworth, Blaby and Harborough.

Both councils will have more than 90 councillors elected to the authorities, with the new Leicester authority having 91 councillors and the other authority having 94.

This will bring the total number of councillors in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, including district, borough and city councils, down from 384 to just 185.

Final steps are now being arranged before the legal order for the creation of the new councils is finalised in 2027, with joint committees to be formed for each authority in the meantime, made up of existing members of the current councils.

Government officials have said the committees are expected to take place “on a regular basis” for up to six months before the new shadow elections in May 2027.

Both Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland are also set to receive £900,000 in Government funding per new unitary authority to assist with costs – bringing the total to £1.8 million.

The Government has also invited suggestions from the chief executives of each council in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland on the proposed ward names and the arrangements for divisions within each council.

It follows the decision by Government ministers to allow Leicester to expand its borders into districts, such as Harborough’s.

Members of Harborough District Council unanimously backed a motion at a meeting on Monday night to show their opposition to the plans, which would see communities including Great Glen, Wistow, Newton Harcourt, Little Stretton, Bushby, Scraptoft, Stoughton and Willoughby Waterleys transferred into Leicester City.

Under the Government’s plans, all existing councils will eventually be abolished, and new ‘shadow elections’ are set to take place in May 2027, which will elect councillors to the new authorities, with the new councils set to be brought into force in April 2028.