As set out by the Secretary of State in her oral statement of 7 September, the government has withdrawn the March 2026 decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, and paused decisions for the other 14 areas while a full review of the local government reorganisation programme is conducted. We recognise the need for clarity and will set out next steps as soon as possible. We also recognise that areas will have committed resources to reorganisation and ministers will consider this matter alongside the review.

All proposals for local government reorganisation were considered carefully, on a case‑by‑case basis, against the criteria set out in the statutory guidance, alongside responses to the consultation, representations made, and all other relevant information. This included evidence on the estimated costs and benefits of each proposal. The five unitary model met the criteria on being the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks.

The Government has committed to repay in-principle £200m of debt repayment support to Thurrock Council in 2026-27. This is a significant and unprecedented commitment given the historic capital practices at the Council and is a decision that has not been taken lightly, reflecting the value for money case for protecting taxpayers from the spiralling costs of ever-increasing debt. This is a first tranche of debt repayment support, and we will continue to explore what further debt support is required at a later point.

All proposals for local government reorganisation were considered carefully, on a case‑by‑case basis, against the criteria set out in the statutory guidance, alongside responses to the consultation, representations made, and all other relevant information. This included evidence on the estimated costs and benefits of each proposal. The five unitary model met the criteria on being the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks.

The Government has committed to repay in-principle £200m of debt repayment support to Thurrock Council in 2026-27. This is a significant and unprecedented commitment given the historic capital practices at the Council and is a decision that has not been taken lightly, reflecting the value for money case for protecting taxpayers from the spiralling costs of ever-increasing debt. This is a first tranche of debt repayment support, and we will continue to explore what further debt support is required at a later point.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government followed a locally-led process and based his decisions on a careful consideration of the representations made from councils with elections scheduled in May and from other councils, interested organisations, Members of Parliament, and members of the public. The government expects local planning authorities to work towards the adoption of an up-to-date local plan as soon as possible. Local government reorganisation should not hinder this essential work.

On 22 January 2026, the Secretary of State announced his intention to bring forward legislation to postpone for one year the May 2026 elections. This legislation will apply to 30 councils, including Thurrock.

Separately, the Government accepts that Thurrock Council holds significant and exceptional unsupported debt, related to capital practices, that cannot be managed locally in their entirety. The government has committed to providing debt repayment support. Thurrock Council remains in intervention and continues to improve and deliver its recovery agenda.

The Secretary of State announced on 22 January 2026 that he intends to bring forward legislation to postpone for one year the elections due in May 2026 to councils including Thurrock Council. That legislation will include any consequential amendments to other Orders that are required in order to implement the Secretary of State’s decision. I remain committed to the indicative timetable that was published in July, that sees elections to new councils in May 2027 and those councils going live in April 2028.

The Secretary of State intends to follow precedent for all previous postponements of elections in relation to local government reorganisation and to extend the term of office of councillors who would otherwise have retired in May 2026. This ensures that councils continue to operate with the designated number of councillors in total and for each ward.

In reaching his decisions, as set out to Parliament on 22 January, the Secretary of State carefully considered all the representations made, including those relating to elections in Thurrock. The Secretary of State did not have meetings with the Leader of Thurrock Council on 2026 local elections, prior to the announcement of 22 January.

In reaching his decisions, as set out to Parliament on 22 January, the Secretary of State carefully considered all the representations made, including those relating to elections in Thurrock. The Secretary of State did not have meetings with the Leader of Thurrock Council on 2026 local elections, prior to the announcement of 22 January.

On 18 December 2025 I invited Basildon Borough Council, Essex County Council and Thurrock Council and other councils undergoing local government reorganisation to set out their views on the postponement of their local election and if they consider this could release essential capacity to deliver local government reorganisation. We have been transparent about this process and will consider all the representations we receive, including any from members of the public. The deadline for responses is 15 January and after this the Secretary of State will decide whether to make an Order to change the year of council elections and the House will be updated.

Minister Fahnbulleh also announced on 5 December 2025 that we are minded to hold the inaugural mayoral elections in Greater Essex in May 2028 so that the reorganisation process is complete before a Mayor is elected for Greater Essex. This is because I believe devolution works best when it is built on strong foundations so, moving forward, we want to aim for strong unitary structures being in place before areas access mayoral devolution. To ensure the benefits of devolution are not delayed, we will still establish the Greater Essex Mayoral Strategic Authority and lay the necessary statutory instrument to do so as soon as possible in 2026, subject to council consent. My colleague Miatta Fahnbulleh MP, the Minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities, spoke to leaders in Greater Essex following the announcement of funding and next steps for the devolution agreements that are being developed through the Devolution Priority Programme. The Department has continued to engage closely with them since the announcement, jointly discussing the benefits devolution will bring to these areas.

On 18 December 2025 I invited Basildon Borough Council, Essex County Council and Thurrock Council and other councils undergoing local government reorganisation to set out their views on the postponement of their local election and if they consider this could release essential capacity to deliver local government reorganisation. We have been transparent about this process and will consider all the representations we receive, including any from members of the public. The deadline for responses is 15 January and after this the Secretary of State will decide whether to make an Order to change the year of council elections and the House will be updated.

Minister Fahnbulleh also announced on 5 December 2025 that we are minded to hold the inaugural mayoral elections in Greater Essex in May 2028 so that the reorganisation process is complete before a Mayor is elected for Greater Essex. This is because I believe devolution works best when it is built on strong foundations so, moving forward, we want to aim for strong unitary structures being in place before areas access mayoral devolution. To ensure the benefits of devolution are not delayed, we will still establish the Greater Essex Mayoral Strategic Authority and lay the necessary statutory instrument to do so as soon as possible in 2026, subject to council consent. My colleague Miatta Fahnbulleh MP, the Minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities, spoke to leaders in Greater Essex following the announcement of funding and next steps for the devolution agreements that are being developed through the Devolution Priority Programme. The Department has continued to engage closely with them since the announcement, jointly discussing the benefits devolution will bring to these areas.

Basildon Borough Council, Castle Point Council, Essex County Council, Rochford Council, Southend-on-Sea Council and Thurrock Council, together with 9 other councils in Essex, submitted four proposals for unitary local government in Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.

Southend-on-Sea City Council, Chelmsford City Council, Basildon Borough Council, Brentwood Borough Council, Castle Point Borough Council, Colchester City Council, Harlow District Council, Maldon District Council, Tendring District Council and Uttlesford District Council proposed 5 unitary councils.

Essex County Council, Braintree District Council and Epping Forest District Council proposed 3 unitary councils.

Rochford District Council proposed 4 unitary councils.

Thurrock Council proposed a different 4 unitary councils.

The 15 principal councils collectively wrote to the department to state that whilst there was no consensus on one proposal, there was collective agreement that regardless of the final decision, all partners are committed to working together to ensure that whichever model is selected is delivered in the best possible way.

The 15 principal councils in the area were invited to respond to the statutory consultation on the four proposals, which closed on 11 January. The House will be updated in due course on the outcome of the consultation.

The government is making good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities, realigning funding with need and deprivation through the first multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement in a decade. We are introducing a fairer and evidence-based funding system, which will account for local circumstances, including different ability to raise income locally from council tax and the variation in cost of delivering services. Further information on how funding allocations have been calculated is available in the government’s response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 and the provisional Settlement 2025-26 to 2028-29.

Local authorities are responsible for their own borrowing and investment decisions but must operate within a legislative and guidance framework designed to ensure that borrowing is prudent, affordable and sustainable. The government is responsible for that framework and monitors sector behaviour using information and data from a range of sources, including levels of borrowing and debt. To support compliance with the framework and to protect public money, the government is taking forward work to operationalise the new capital powers introduced by the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, which provide for targeted intervention where councils take on excessive risk through borrowing and investment activity.

On handling Thurrock’s debt, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 77936 on 13 October 2025.

What recent discussions he has had with Basildon and Thurrock councils on proposals to postpone the local elections of May 2026.