As set out in the Government’s English Devolution White Paper, all 14 council Leaders in Kent have submitted their interim proposals to replace the current two-tier system with new unitary councils.
The Government says simplifying council structures will cut wasteful duplication and build empowered, simplified, resilient and sustainable local government for Kent that will increase value for money for taxpayers.
For Kent, Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) will bring together the county council, Medway Council, and the county’s 12 District and Borough councils into a number of new unitary authorities that will provide the same services as both county and district councils.
Although Kent and Medway is not currently included in the Devolution Priority Programme, Council Leaders are still in pursuit of the very best devolutionary arrangements for all residents and are keen to ensure that any reorganisation is completed in alignment with achieving full devolution at the earliest opportunity.
The options in the interim proposal reflect key criteria set out by Government around prioritising the delivery of high quality and sustainable public services to residents and avoiding any unnecessary fragmentation of services.
Council Leaders will now await the Government’s response to the interim proposals. Further extensive work will take place over the coming months on final proposals to be submitted in November 2025, during which time there will be scope for a much wider programme of public and partner engagement.
Read the submission from all 14 councils in Kent.
Medway Council Leader, Cllr Vince Maple has today also written to Jim McMahon, OBE MP, Minister for Local Government and English Devolution confirming Medway Council’s strong support for the introduction of unitary authorities across the Kent region. Medway Council has been a unitary authority since its foundation in 1998 and the benefits for local residents and communities have been very evident during this time and are well understood locally. Whilst work will continue across all Kent and Medway councils together to identify the best model of unitaries for the region ahead of the final proposals being submitted in November, Cllr Maple has given his backing to a model supporting four unitary authorities on the basis that this would keep the local population numbers close to the Government’s suggested target of around 500,000 residents, ensuring that local democracy remains truly local and best serves local needs.