Ministers face pressure to publish legal advice which stalled councils plan

Ministers are facing pressure to publish the legal advice which halted the Government’s reorganisation of local councils.

The Government this week announced it had withdrawn its decisions for local government reorganisation in Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

Decisions affecting a further 14 areas in England – including Brighton and Hove and East Sussex – will be reviewed, alongside efforts to re-draw the political map in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and West Sussex, where decisions are yet to be made.

Angela Rayner, the Local Government Secretary, told the Commons on Monday that the process was on hold “in light of legal advice”.

She added: “It is a long-standing principle that the Government does

not publish or comment on legal advice.”

But Zoe Franklin, the Liberal Democrats’ local government spokeswoman, has tabled a humble address motion in a bid to put the legal advice into the public domain.

“The Government’s decision to pause local government reorganisation following new legal advice is an embarrassing and chaotic climbdown,” Ms Franklin told the Press Association.

She described the shape of local government as a “pivotal issue”.

Town hall chiefs “deserve to know how this happened and what legal concerns forced the Government to change course”, she added.

Ms Franklin continued: “That is why I have tabled a humble address, which has widespread support from MPs across our party, requiring ministers to publish the legal advice underpinning these decisions and their subsequent reversal.”

Humble address motions were used earlier this year to secure the disclosure of documents about Lord Peter Mandelson and his appointment as London’s ambassador to the US, and about the decision to name Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as the UK’s special representative for trade and investment in 2001.

If MPs were to agree Ms Franklin’s motion, ministers would be compelled to publish the advice.

But time in the chamber, which is controlled by the Government, would need to be found for a debate.

During former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership, the Government began a process to replace two-tier councils – in areas covered by both a district and county council – with single-tier unitary authorities.

Some authorities, including Essex County Council, Harlow Council, Hampshire County Council, Norfolk County Council and Suffolk County Council, were attempting legal challenges against the Government.

Last year’s local elections were postponed in Essex, Thurrock, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex as part of the process. Polls went ahead in 2026.

Local elections due to take place in May next year will go ahead on existing council boundaries following Ms Rayner’s announcement.

Ms Rayner told MPs: “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.”