Council shake-up consultation begins

A consultation on the future of councils in Warwickshire has begun, to gather views on whether there should be one unitary authority or two.

The government survey will last seven weeks, with a decision expected on the chosen model by July.

Warwickshire County Council and Rugby Borough Council backed a proposal for a single unitary authority last year.

Meanwhile, Nuneaton and Bedworth, North Warwickshire, Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon councils later submitted plans to create two unitary authorities instead.

Both plans would replace the current model of six authorities, split across county, district and borough councils.

The matter has sparked debate since the government announced plans to streamline two-tier council areas back in December 2024.

In Wednesday's update to Stratford-on-Avon District Council's overview and scrutiny committee, chief executive David Buckland confirmed the consultation was scheduled to go live on Thursday.

"As soon as we get the website link, we will circulate to all of our members," he said.

Warwickshire County Council previously made the case not only for a single county-wide unitary, but also to hold "continuing authority" status until any new council was formed in April 2028 "to ease transition and minimise cost to the public".

The government will ultimately decide the model for Warwickshire, using the results of the consultation to inform its decision.

The process is separate to the feedback councils considered ahead of putting forward their preferred options to the government.

The chief executives of Warwickshire's six biggest councils met last week to begin preparation work, with each a member of a new project board that will consider matters such as governance, finance, IT, and procurement.

"Those are the areas of activity we will be looking at, effectively putting the building blocks in place," he said.

"We don't know quite what we are building yet but we can get all the information we need to take that forward."

He added the conversations were positive and councils were committed to working together "on the best implementation, whatever model is selected".

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