Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation

"It is fair to say that there are some big changes lying ahead for local government in our area, and across the country. The exact detail of what will come next is still to be determined," said Ashford Borough Council Leader, Cllr Noel Ovenden, in a statement on our website in January this year.

You can also read his latest updates from March and July.

Find the LGR Timelines here.

Change is coming campaign

Government ministers want councils like yours in Kent and Medway to deliver the services they provide in a different way.

In the biggest shake up of local government in almost 50 years, they want to merge councils across the historic county of Kent to create a number of unitary councils serving roughly 500,000 people each. We explain what a unitary council is below.

This is known as Local Government Reorganisation or LGR for short.

Change is coming - the government wants us to deliver your services differently

What we do know

The Government published their English Devolution White Paper, on 20 December 2024 and invited councils to apply for priority status.

Kent County Council and Medway Council asked the government to be included its Devolution Priority Programme (DPP), however the government announced in early February that Kent and Medway were not selected.

The government also asked local authorities to consider how they could reshape the county’s local councils into a smaller group of larger unitary authorities. Something referred to as Local Government Re-organisation (LGR).

This presentation on our website provides a summary on LGR and the latest progress.

A screengrab of the LGR presentation

Latest update

Councils in Kent and Medway received a response in May from government on interim proposals to replace the current system of local government.

The feedback acknowledged the positive partnership working by the 12 borough and district councils, Medway Council and Kent County Council to shape high-quality and sustainable services that best respond to the needs of residents and provide better value for money.

Government welcomed the initial thinking on the options for LGR in Kent and Medway, recognising that proposals are at an early stage and further analysis is planned in the run-up to final submissions in the autumn.

The feedback also included recognition of the geographically important position of Kent as the gateway to Europe, adding that this will necessitate unique considerations for LGR within the Kent and Medway area.

Strategic partner appointed

There is much more work to be done to build comprehensive business cases for submission by the government’s 28 November deadline. To help with this process KPMG were appointed in July as Kent's strategic partner after a procurement exercise.

A key part of that process will be a public awareness campaign over the next few months to ensure residents and businesses fully understand the potential changes that LGR will bring.

Further extensive work will take place over the coming months, involving our strategic partner KPMG, 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.

The interim submission from all 14 councils in Kent can be seen here.

What is devolution?

Devolution is all about having a new tier of government allowing strategic decisions that affect local people in Kent, which will be made by the new authority, run by an elected Kent mayor.

These strategic decisions are on those contentious issues around roads, transport, education, health, planning - all done currently in Westminster - but will be moved to a local Kent and Medway wide Mayoral authority.

How will it work?

It means the transfer of powers from Westminster to Kent along with funding to deliver those strategic decisions. These structures already exist around the country in city regions like Manchester and Birmingham, and more recently in places like the West of England, and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

If the proposal is accepted by government there will be a consultation process held at a Kent and Medway level run by the government, so residents and communities will be consulted on the proposal.

Local Government Reorganisation

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) will see a change from Kent County Council and Borough Councils to Unitary Council’s that combine all responsibilities into one body, hopefully making it easier for residents to know who runs their area for all council services.

The government has said that these councils should be at a size that should give savings and improvements in services for the residents, and it’s been suggested 500,000 is an approximate population for each. The combined current population of Kent and Medway is around 2 million (Kent is estimated to be 1.6m while Medway is approximately 283k).

The government have indicated that they intend to deliver new unitary authorities included in the Devolution Priority Programme by April 2027 and remaining unitary authorities by April 2028.

LGR timelines and process

21 March 2025
Submission of a high-level interim plan, following the guidance set out by the government.

22 March 2025 – 27 November 2025
Appointment of a strategic partner to work with councils on the full business case proposal.

28 November 2025
Submission of the full proposal to the Secretary of State for Local Government.

Early 2026
Government confirm choice of model for the Kent region.

Early 2028
Expected implementation of the new Unitary Authorities, subject to government approval.

ABC priorities remain the same

The government's latest announcement that Kent and Medway have not been selected for the Devolution Priority Programme, means that for the near future at least, nothing changes.

In the meantime, Ashford Borough Council officers and councillors will focus on our priorities set out in the Borough Plan and progressing on important work like a new Local Plan, delivering affordable housing for local people and serving our residents.