08 Sep 2026
Plans to scrap Hertfordshire district, borough and county councils and replace them with new unitary authorities have been placed on hold pending a review by the Government – but the creation of a St Albans City Parish Council is ploughing ahead.
Local Government Reorganisation would have seen Hertfordshire divided into four unitary authorities, with St Albans merged with Dacorum under the new structure.
The Government rejected SADC’s preferred approach, which was for the county to be divided into West Herts (Dacorum, Hertsmere, St Albans, Three Rivers, Watford) and East Herts (Broxbourne, East Herts, North Herts, Stevenage, Welwyn Hatfield).
But now the entire LGR process has been thrown into disarray after the Government pressed pause yesterday, with next year’s council elections to go ahead under existing district boundaries.
Meanwhile, plans for the creation of a St Albans City Parish Council are proceeding regardless, as the process has already been approved by SADC’s Full Council and are not contingent on Government involvement.
Communities secretary Angela Rayner said: “As we are now more determined than ever to devolve power closer to the people we represent, it’s only right that as a new secretary of state I make sure that everything we do is working towards that plan to change Britain, without delay.
“The Prime Minister told the House last week he was ‘prepared to look at Local Government Reorganisation’ and he asked me as his communities secretary to ‘do that’.
“In that context, in light of legal advice, I want to satisfy myself firstly that the right process is in place, that it is robust, and of course complies with the law.
“And, secondly, I want to fully test whether our proposals for local government reorganisation meet the priorities of a new administration and a new Prime Minister, and any additional considerations.
“I do not take this lightly. I recognise the huge amount of work that has already gone into progressing reorganisation in each of these areas and I am very grateful for it.”
Liberal Democrat MPs for St Albans and Harpenden, Daisy Cooper and Victoria Collins, have condemned the disarray created by the announcement.
Daisy said: “Local Government Reorganisation has been a shambles from start to finish.
“Taxpayer money has been wasted preparing for a change that won’t now go ahead as planned, and the time and energy of councillors and officers have been needlessly distracted by a top-down re-organisation away from the delivery of local services, like SEND and social care.
“But even if reorganisation has been paused, devolution must not be. Whether or not the Government creates the role of a Hertfordshire Mayor, Hertfordshire must not miss out on being given the same powers as other parts of the country – our county council must be given these powers now.”
And Victoria added: “Councils are the front line delivering vital services to local people from education, to housing and social care.
“I am absolutely flabbergasted by this latest announcement by the Government which puts already stretched councils in limbo once again.
“I asked the Secretary of State directly for clarity for local people. Given the money spent on this I also asked that councils should be reimbursed for the money spent on reorganisation so they can put it towards local vital services.”
Cllr Mike Hobday, SADC Labour Group leader, said: “It’s worth taking the time to get the move to unitary councils right.
“There is a big prize to be won. I want to see an end to the buck-passing between district and county councils. We don’t need one council to collect waste and another to dispose of it. We don’t need one council responsible for parking, while another owns the roads. We shouldn’t have one council providing housing for people in need, when a different council provides social care support. We don’t need 11 council chief executives 11 council finance directors across Hertfordshire
“If a short delay means we can avoid unnecessary legal uncertainty, then that is a price worth paying.”
Conservative group leader Cllr Matt Cowley said: “After a year of cost and uncertainty imposed by the Labour Government, we now have more cost and uncertainty imposed by the Labour Government. Come what may, our Conservative team will continue to stand up for residents and fight hard for every vote in next May’s local elections – now likely to be to the district council.
“The Government must now get on with their job; make a decision, stand by it and allow Hertfordshire to move on from talking about local Government and actually do some local Government.”
Green and Independent group leader Cllr Simon Grover said: “The announcement from the Labour Government beggars belief. The local government minister is clear that not only is this a pause to the LGR process, it might be scrapped altogether. This is after 18 months of work by local councils up and down the country, to race to meet the Government’s surprise deadlines for this massive and expensive process.
“Our own council in St Albans has spent many hours and unknown pounds on debating the way forward and putting in place a solution, which had only just been signed off by the Government. Consultations have been held and detailed work done on the shape of the new councils. All the while, councils complained to the Government that LGR on this model was too much, too fast, and it was impacting their ability to deliver services.
“Rather than listen early on, the Government waited till just eight months before the planned elections to the unitary authorities to press pause. On top of all this, the change will further undermine trust in local and national democracy and give the understandable impression of chaos.”
Last week HCC issued a Pre-Action Protocol letter to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government seeking clarity and transparency on the LGR process, including how the different proposals were assessed against the Government’s own criteria.
The letter requests the disclosure of evidence, analysis and financial assessments that informed the decision, particularly in relation to financial sustainability, implications of the Fair Funding Review and population size.
