Government backs five-council plan for Essex

The network of 15 councils in Essex will be abolished and replaced with five local authorities, the government has announced.

The new all-purpose councils - known as unitary authorities - are due to take effect in 2028 for a county of 1.9 million people.

Communities Secretary Steve Reed said this model had been "clearly shaped by the communities across the area and reflects local identities".

The five-council model conflicts with the proposal championed by Essex County Council, which had favoured setting up just three unitary councils.

Reed said: "The five unitary model creates sensible geographies that will empower each new council to deliver new housing in line with local needs.

"Each unitary will also be directly accountable for delivering public services tailored to local challenges."

The government has said the shake-up of local councils in England will help meet housebuilding targets and reform public services.

Essex is currently made up of 12 district and borough councils - and three county and unitary authorities - as part of a two-tier system of local government.

There were other proposals to replace this with four and three councils for the county.

It is the biggest shake-up in local government in Essex since 1974.

The county will be carved up geographically:

• South West: Basildon and Thurrock
• South East: Southend, Rochford and Castle Point
• West: Harlow, Epping Forest and Uttlesford
• Mid: Chelmsford, Brentwood and Maldon
• North East: Colchester, Braintree and Tendring

The proposal for five councils had most cross-party and cross-council support, particularly from Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Greens.

Analysis by accountancy firm Grant Thornton suggested a five-unitary model would bring in a £35m net benefit by 2032-33.

Southend-on-Sea City Council leader Daniel Cowan, who led on the five district proposal, said: "We are all coming together and we need to create a new sense of place."

The Conservative Rochford District Council leader Danielle Belton, who proposed a four-council model, said the decision from Westminster "isn't ideal" but "we will make the best of it".

Lib Dem Stephen Robinson, who leads Chelmsford City Council, said he was "a little concerned the democratic side of these new councils will not be as effective as the current districts" but that he was hopeful of making the five-unitary model "as close to the people as possible".

Essex County Council's Tory leader Kevin Bentley, who spearheaded the proposal for three authorities, said his teams would consider a legal challenge against the government's decision.

"We will look at all the legal options to see what is possible. I think this [decision] is about party politics over people."

There are opponents of reorganisation. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said "we should fight" it, and prefers the current network of councils.

Essex will receive £4.5m in transition funding from the government to help form the new councils.

Parliament will have to pass legislation in the autumn to abolish the current councils and establish the new ones.

Elections to the new authorities would then take place in May 2027 and they will replace the current councils in April 2028.

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.