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Local Authorities (Changes to Years of Ordinary Elections) (England) Order 2025

My Lords, that has been a really interesting debate. I understand and I have listened to the concerns around the Chamber. The Government have been very clear on our manifesto commitment to widen devolution to more areas. We have been clear on our vision for a simpler, more sustainable local government structure, alongside transfer of power and funding out of Westminster through a devolution process. We have been clear on our willingness to take all the appropriate steps needed to deliver this vision, working with councils to fix the foundations of local government and support communities to join the devolution revolution.

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The noble Baronesses, Lady Scott and Lady Pinnock, asked why the public were not asked. As they both stated, however, this was a manifesto commitment, so they were consulted in the general election about the fact that we need a reorganisation of local government and a devolution agenda. The English Devolution White Paper set out the scale of our ambition for a programme of local government reform and a mayoral devolution on such a scale that we believe this is a once in a generation reform. We will not miss the opportunity to deliver these benefits to people as quickly as possible. So, we have taken this step to help those areas which have expressed their firm commitment to deliver to the most ambitious timeframe.

In our White Paper, we were clear that strong, decisive and collaborative leadership locally will be met with an active partner nationally. We were also clear that we would take decisions to postpone local elections where this would help to smooth the transition process. We will follow through on these commitments and we will not miss this opportunity to deliver the benefits of mayoral devolution and fit and stable unitary local government to the people we serve as quickly as possible.

We have taken the step to make this order to help those areas which have expressed their firm commitment to deliver to the most ambitious timeframe. We are

now working with those areas to prioritise, in parallel, the steps necessary to develop plans for new unitary government. We are also consulting widely on the proposals to establish the new mayoral authorities in time for the May 2026 mayoral elections.

If successful, the fatal Motions would impact councils’ ability to deliver on the mayoral elections in 2026 and deprive the people in those areas of the powers and funding that they should have. It would not be possible to do this at such a pace when also holding the 2025 local elections in those areas. Councils were invited to make their case, and we considered requests for elections to be postponed until May 2026 only where it was clear this would be necessary to deliver the significant amount of work needed to unlock devolution and deliver reorganisation to the fastest possible timescale.

I must stress that decisions were taken on the basis of local requests to free up capacity to take the practical steps needed. These steps include public consultations from 17 February through to 13 April in affected areas and working towards delivering elections to new mayoral strategic authorities in May 2026. The local engagement is needed to develop detailed proposals to establish strong and stable unitary councils that are fit for the future.

I can therefore assure noble Lords that the Local Authorities (Changes to Years of Ordinary Elections) (England) Order 2025 is essential to allow this first wave of an ambitious programme to be delivered. This order grants permission for postponement for 12 months only and is only for the nine councils whose requests met the high bar we set. These areas have demonstrated the clear and strong local leadership and ambition that is needed to drive forward this programme to these timelines. The Government will get on with delivering what areas need, including taking the difficult decisions that are needed.

I turn now to some of the comments made by noble Lords. The noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, mentioned the manifesto commitment. Our commitment was to deliver devolution to the fastest possible timescale. Our manifesto was explicit that the Government would seek to widen devolution to more areas, and we are now seeking to deliver our manifesto commitment to the fastest possible timescale, which requires these election delays.

Both the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, and the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, also referred to local government’s financial situation, and it is that very resilience and financial stability in local government that make this kind of reorganisation essential now. Of course we must sort out the finances; we made a start this year and we will continue that work in the spending review looking ahead.

The noble Lord, Lord Stoneham, said that what we need is well-funded unitary authorities and mayors. I totally agree with him. The quicker we can get that moving, the better.

A fatal Motion would be an unprecedented step by the House of Lords. Similar election delay SIs were laid by the previous Government, with no fatal Motion from the Lords or the Commons. These Motions undermine the convention of the primacy of

the Commons and the principle of delegated powers, which have been previously used, as set out in primary legislation.

The noble Lord, Lord Kerr, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Pinnock, Lady Jones and Lady Scott, referred to divide and rule, in relation to the local request for postponement. Ministers wrote to all areas following the publication of the White Paper and acknowledged that, for some areas, the timing of May 2025 local elections would affect their planning, particularly for those keen to deliver to the most ambitious timeframe. We have been very clear that the bar for postponing 2025 elections was set very high and would be permitted only if it could help deliver both reorganisation and devolution to that most ambitious timeframe—unlocking, importantly, the opportunities that will bring for local people in those areas.

In response to the Government’s letter of 24 December, 18 councils made requests that involved postponing their elections. Nine requests were agreed and the councils have had their 2025 elections postponed until May 2026. I will go into more detail about the timetable in a moment.

I have never been described as either Ceau escu or Trotskyite before. The noble Lord, Lord Kerr, referred to the Trotskyite regimes of Sussex and Essex and urged us to have a sense of perspective. That is very important and I am grateful for his comments and his clarification of some of the comments of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. Of course, we take those seriously.

The noble Lord, Lord Stoneham, mentioned that county councils were involved in this. I have met with all the groups that are concerned and they have very much been working in collaboration with their district councils. It has been really good to see the way that this has brought about local governments working together. County councils were consulted about the postponement because they were their elections: that is quite straightforward. The noble Lord, Lord Fuller, mentioned that. Of course, it has to be local government reorganisation and devolution going hand in hand. The two work together for that.