What’s happening?
In December 2024, the government published plans for local government reorganisation and devolution. The government views these proposals as parallel processes, they are distinct from each other.
The plans outlined in the ‘Power and Partnership: Foundations for Growth’ White Paper aim to:
- Devolve decision making powers from central government to local ‘strategic authority areas’, enabling them to make decisions tailored to their specific economic, social, and geographic circumstances. This is called devolution
- Simplify the current two-tier system of local government, as seen in Staffordshire, where services are provided by both county and district/borough councils, moving instead to larger unitary authorities that would deliver all services within their area. This is called local government reorganisation.
What does this mean for Tamworth?
Currently, Tamworth covers a population of just under 80,000 and so it will see an end to current two-tier areas where services are delivered via different councils – such as Tamworth Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council – with a single council representing around 300,000 - 500,000 residents instead.
The new council will have new powers and responsibilities, such as education and social care, that as Tamworth Borough Council we didn’t have any control over before.
The shape of local government is yet to be determined. Counties which have county and district councils, have been invited by government to submit proposals for becoming unitary authorities. But the decision on how local government will be structured in Staffordshire and Tamworth lie with central government.
What has been proposed?
The Staffordshire Leaders' Board interim plan includes two key elements the government has asked for proposals about:
- Creating a Mayoral Strategic Authority across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to unlock investment and decision-making powers for our local economy
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Two main options for unitary authorities to deliver day-to-day council services:
Option 1: A county unitary combining areas currently served by the county council and the eight district/borough councils, alongside Stoke-on-Trent City Council maintaining its current boundaries
Option 2: Two new unitary councils - one for Northern Staffordshire (covering Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Staffordshire Moorlands and Stoke-on-Trent) and one for Southern Staffordshire (Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, South Staffordshire, Stafford and of course Tamworth)
We’ve been working closely with the five other southern and mid Staffordshire councils (Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, South Staffordshire, and Stafford), to work out the best option for local communities.
Throughout August 2025, along with the five other councils in southern and mid-Staffordshire we carried out extensive engagement to gather as many views as possible to help us put our business case together for central government. We wanted to find out what is most important to residents, businesses, staff and community groups for a future council and what their top priorities would be. Along with the survey, we held multiple drop-in sessions and focus groups to engage further and have face-to-face conversations with people. We decided to try and make these a little more fun and people could vote for their top priorities using counters and fishbowls and vote for what is important to them using stickers and boards. This was just another way to gather the overall feeling of our local residents about what they want.
The latest
Together with Lichfield District Council and South Staffordshire Council, we are proposing to three balanced, community-focused unitary councils across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
The proposal would create:
- A council covering East Staffordshire, Lichfield and Tamworth (population 322,708)
- A council covering Cannock, South Staffordshire and Stafford (population 360,067)
- A council covering Stoke, Staffordshire Moorlands and Newcastle-under-Lyme (population 498,803)
This model is shaped by feedback from over 16,700 residents and businesses who took part in one of the largest local government engagement exercises ever carried out in Staffordshire.
Three-quarters of respondents said they want councils that remain local, visible and community-focused.
Read the press release for more information.
Next steps
The proposal to create three unitary councils across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent is going for approval through the democratic process:
- Full Council 4 November
- Cabinet 13 November
Once approved, the business case will be submitted to government by the 28 November 2025 deadline.
The business case proposal is available after Monday 27 October.
For more information:
Joint submission to government on southern and mid Staffordshire local.
Press release outlining Tamworth’s position following full council on 10 March.
10 March full council report and decision.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government feedback letter
Press release outlining proposal to create three unitary councils across Staffordshire
The existing Staffordshire authority make up
In Staffordshire the local government family currently consists of:
Staffordshire County Council
Stoke on Trent City Council
Eight borough and district councils:
Cannock Chase District Council
East Staffordshire Borough Council
Lichfield District Council
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council
South Staffordshire Council
Stafford Borough Council
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council
Tamworth Borough Council
For most residents in Staffordshire there are two types of local government functions, delivered by two different councils:
- Staffordshire County Council - responsible for functions such as transport, social care and education.
- Borough and district councils - responsible for services such housing, planning, parks, bins and recycling. And for Tamworth also Tamworth Castle and Tamworth Assembly Rooms.
Unitary authorities are responsible for all these functions.
Local government re-organisation is the replacement of two-tier arrangements with unitary local government.
Further information
Local government reorganisation
Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) is the process of restructuring local authorities to create unitary councils that deliver all services currently managed by both county and district councils.
Key features include:
- Combining county and district councils into larger unitary authorities.
- Creating councils with populations of at least 500,000 to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity, and withstand financial challenges.
- Reducing duplication and fragmentation in public services.
When will the reorganisation take place?
This is an outline of the timeline provided by the Government in the white paper. It included proposed and confirmed dates at current:
5 February 2025 Statutory invitation received from government to submit unitary proposals
21 March 2025 Submit interim local government reorganisation proposal
End April Initial government response to proposals
28 November 2025 Submit full Local Government Reorganisation proposal
April 2028 New unitary councils established (formally called vesting day)
What happens next?
The government will assess the business case proposal alongside others submitted this year.
For more information about local government reorganisation see:
Devolution
Government proposals for devolution seek to create ‘strategic authorities’.
Strategic authorities oversee the big major infrastructure programmes as directed by government such as strategic planning, transport, skills etc, like we see with organisations like the West Midlands Combined Authority.
Strategic authorities sit above the new unitary councils and do not deliverer the day-today services and functions. Government suggest the ideal population size for strategic authorities is being set at 1.5million.
For more information about devolution see: