MPs blast Leicester City Mayor after he claimed expansion will still go ahead despite pause
The Lord Mayor of Leicester City Council has been criticised by MPs after he insisted the local government reorganisation would still happen despite the government saying it had paused the plans.
Leader of Harborough District Council, Cllr Simon Whelband, has written to Sir Peter Soulsby for confirmation that the plans in the city are paused.
Cllr Whelband wrote: “The government’s position is clear: Local Government Reorganisation is under review and implementation work should stop. I therefore hope you will be equally clear that Leicester will respect that instruction.
“Residents in Harborough have been left facing months of uncertainty over proposals which would remove communities from our district and bring them within an expanded Leicester City.”
MPs protested and took a petition against the plans to Downing Street yesterday (September 14) and criticised the Lord Mayor’s claims the expansion would go ahead regardless of a review.
Alberto Costa MP said: “I think that’s an appalling disregard for the people of Leicestershire and Rutland. How dare the Labour mayor utterly disregard the views of the vast majority of hardworking people throughout Leicestershire and Rutland?
“The government’s own consultation had a quite high response rate, and 87 per cent of the 6,600 residents who responded said they didn’t want this.”
This was echoed by Neil O’Brien MP. He explained: “[Sir Peter] has never shown any interest in the views of local people about this. The government’s own consultation showed that nine out of 10 people do not want Leicester expanded, and people feel very strongly about this.”