Fenland Cabinet members call on Government to halt Local Government Reorganisation process

At its meeting on Friday 7 November, Cabinet supported a proposal from Council Leader, Cllr Chris Boden, that Government should establish an independent Royal Commission to investigate all possible local government reforms, without the unrealistic rules and criteria imposed by the current process.

Members met to discuss the proposed options for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), the Government's national requirement to replace current district, county and city councils with unitary councils from April 2028.

Council Leader, Cllr Chris Boden, warned: "If Government refuses to put a halt to the current local government reform process, despite the obvious flaws it contains, then there is no good option (for reorganisation) on the table for the residents of Fenland. All options will be worse than current arrangements."

However, recognising that councils must indicate their preferred option if they are to retain any voice in shaping the outcome, Cabinet agreed (if the Government fails to halt the reorganisation process) to express support for Option D as the "least bad option" under the Government's current reorganisation criteria.

Under Option D, three new unitary councils would be created across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough:

• Greater Peterborough Unitary Authority: comprising Peterborough City Council and Northern Huntingdonshire District Council.
• Cambridgeshire Fens Unitary Authority: comprising Fenland, East Cambridgeshire and Eastern and Southern Huntingdonshire District Councils.
• Greater Cambridge Unitary Authority: comprising South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council.

All seven councils in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough - Cambridge City Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, Fenland District Council, Huntingdonshire District Council, Peterborough City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council - have been working together to identify viable options for the new unitary authorities since the Government announced its plans for LGR in December 2024.

This process has concluded with five options (Options A-E) for unitary government having emerged across the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area.

All councils are required to formally submit their preferred options to Government by Friday 28 November 2025.

A Government consultation is then expected in early 2026 before Ministers make a final decision on which new unitary arrangements are put into place.

Cllr Boden said: "Fenland District Council recognises that there are significant inefficiencies in the current structures both of local government and of local delivery of public services by national Government and agree that reform is desirable. But it must be done properly. If the Government's current process isn't stopped and properly reviewed, the whole system will fail and will need to be reformed again at substantial, unnecessary expense."

• A recording of the Cabinet meeting is available to view on the Council's YouTube channel at: FDC Cabinet Meeting - 07/11/25
• To read the Cabinet agenda, business case summaries of the five LGR proposals, and Cllr Boden's full proposal, visit: Cabinet Report - Local Government Reorganisation - 7 Nov 2025
• For more information on Local Government Reorganisation in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, including FAQs, visit: Local Government Reorganisation

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November 2025