Last week's announcements about reorganisation in the so-called Devolution Priority Programme areas came hot on the heels of the rebranding of the District Councils' Network to the Local Councils Network (LCN), which is well placed to secure the new unitary councils in its growing membership.
East and West Sussex remain in limbo but the Government has generally turned its back on mega-councils. Augury based on these decisions does not permit accurate predictions for the other 14 shire counties. Consultation closed last week, with decisions due before the summer recess. Only two things are certain: they will have four fewer months in which to plan implementation and will have a much longer wait for devolution.
