Harborough residents urged to have their say on council's future

Local authorities are gathering views on proposals to reduce the number of councils across the country and replace them with larger unitary authorities as part of the Government’s devolution plans.

It follows a decision by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner who wants areas which have two tiers of governance – such as Leicestershire – to set up a single-tier structure instead.

Locally, that means scrapping the seven district and borough councils – such as Harborough District Council (HDC) – which shares responsibilities for delivering services with Leicestershire County Council.

When the changes have been made, county residents will instead see all of their services delivered by a single authority.

However, HDC thinks there is another way forward and three possible suggestions have been submitted to the Government earlier this year ahead of the March deadline, and all remain on the table after Westminster responded to the submissions this week.

Among these, the district and borough councils in Leicestershire, and Rutland County Council, have submitted their interim North, City, South plan to create three equally-sized unitary councils for the area.

The plans propose that the Harborough district would be served by a unitary authority for the South Leicestershire region while a North Leicestershire and Rutland authority would serve the northern area. Leicester City would retain its current unitary model.

The councils say the plan will deliver devolution and see more decision-making powers and funding transferred to local areas from central government.

Speaking for the group, Melton Borough Council leader Pip Allnatt, said: “Councils in the area are facing the biggest change in over 50 years and it is vital our communities are involved in helping to shape the future of local government.

“We encourage people, businesses and organisations to take part in the survey and tell us their views on our plans.

“We do not think the current system is broken but we recognise the Government’s intent on change.

“This is the second time we have asked for views and earlier this year more than 4,600 people and organisations responded to our original survey to help inform our interim plan. We also had meetings and conversations with hundreds of other stakeholders.

“Our councils which have proposed the North, City, South plan have made a pledge to make sure all voices are heard in this process and we will continue to make strenuous efforts to gather views from our communities and partners.

“Please have your say.”

Following this engagement period, the councils will continue to refine the North, City, South proposal with a view to submitting a final plan to Government in November 2025.

It is anticipated Government will make a final decision on council structures in 2026 and new authorities could be in place by 2028.

People can have a say between June 9 and July 20 by visiting www.northcitysouth.co.uk

Paper copies of the survey are also available and other methods including focus groups are also being used.