Decision details

The Leader updated Cabinet on two good news stories which he was proud to share including:

·         A new leukaemia therapy available in the UK changing lives and benefitting many patients, had been developed and produced by the Stevenage based company Autolus.

·         Stevenage Borough Council and the English Cities Fund had signed a development agreement to start the Stevenage Station Gateway, a billion pound project which would fundamentally change the station and surrounding areas.

The Leader then presented an urgent Part I report, which addressed a significant matter arising from the Government’s ongoing programme of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) following the publication of the English Devolution White Paper in December 2024.

The Leader advised that the report was urgent as the Government’s letter on local elections and Local Government Reorganisation required a response by 15 January and that this meeting was the first available opportunity for Cabinet to consider the matter. Additional guidance and FAQs were also published by Government on 6 January, which informed this report, alongside legal advice on the appropriate decision?making process.

The Leader reminded Cabinet that the elections would not be postponed until the Government had made the decision to do so.

Members made a number of comments on the report:

·         It would be the Government’s decision to postpone the local elections not Stevenage Borough Council;

·         It was noted that across the country, whenever councils were being replaced by another authority, the elections to a local council in the year before elections to a new council were usually postponed;

·         Councils from a number of the major political parties were asking for postponement;

·         Postponing the elections would let the council focus on delivering services, and prepare for the transfer to the new authority instead of running an election that would engage up to 200 council staff members who would be working on delivering this change;

·         Elections would take up three or four months when the work to reorganise 11 councils in terms of the financial, staffing and service complexity should be underway;

·         No councillor of any party would be getting their term extended beyond  a four year term, so there would continue to be full and fair representation for residents;

·         Concern was expressed for Council teams including IT who would have to support the transition as well as the day-to-day running of the councils;

·         County services such as Education and SEN would be coming under the remit of the new Unitary authorities and it was essential that children had access to the opportunities available to them, holding the elections could impact on the transfer of these services.

Following further debate, the Leader summarised the points raised by Members and it was RESOLVED:

1.  That the letter from the Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness on 18 December 2025, inviting councils in reorganisation areas where elections are planned for 2026 to give their views on potential postponement of local elections in their areas be noted.

2.  That a response be submitted with comments on the capacity to manage the transition to new unitary authorities by April 2028 and a request that the local elections scheduled for May 2026 be postponed by one year.

3.  That authority be delegated to the Leader of the Council to submit a response to the Minister’s invitation by 15 January 2026.