Devolution revolution

Local government plans mean spending to save

- Richard Partington

Across England, a quiet rebellion is brewing. In Rutland, locals have started a campaign to save the tiny county from abolition. Villagers in High Peak, rural Derbyshire, worry they could be bundled in with Andy Burnham’s Greater Manchester. Nottingham is expanding, Medway wants to become a city, and Surrey will have a mayor.

Under the guise of a "devolution revolution", championed by the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, work is under way to merge hundreds of English district councils with the counties above them, creating a single layer of unitary authorities. Local leaders must submit plans by 21 March. The idea is to find efficiency savings to tackle the worst town hall financial crisis in decades, after years of austerity-driven cuts. The so-called mega councils will also underpin the creation of dozens of new, mayor-led strategic combined authorities, with powers in areas including transport and economic development.