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Some two-tier areas could still be encouraged to stick to the original reorganisation timetable despite the Government pausing the process, The MJ understands. Civil servants have told boroughs and districts to plan for district elections in May but have stopped short of a full guarantee they will go ahead.It comes as local government minister Jim McMahon insisted rumours of an announcement for the outcome of the reorganisation review on Budget day (28 October) were ‘not confirmed'.Speaking to The MJ at the Labour Party conference, he added it would be shortly after the return of Parliament following conference recess, so was likely to be ‘there or thereabouts'.Amid the review, it is believed some areas are discussing with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government the option of holding shadow elections next year, with a 2028 unitary vesting day. But even the most straightforward plans remain contentious.In Worcestershire, the county council's Green leader Cllr Matt Jenkins and five districts have written to local government secretary Angela Rayner urging her to ‘unpause' their unitary restructure.In Gloucestershire a source said there was a ‘faint glimmer' of maintaining the fragile consensus over a single unitary and sticking to the original timetable – though some are pushing for district elections.However, in Nottinghamshire Rushcliffe BC chief executive Adam Hill said the pause and lack of clarity made it ‘very difficult to be able to effectively plan for or discuss the possibility of a fast-track option'.Speaking to a local government rally at the conference in Liverpool, McMahon told councillors the decision to halt the local government reorganisation (LGR) process ‘wasn't taken lightly'.He said: ‘I recognise that when government changes its position it has a powerful impact on your local areas. There was nothing in the conversation about pausing LGR to review our position, and come back more confidently, that didn't take into account the very real effect it would have for you. That wasn't taken lightly.‘I do believe it was done for the right reasons, and I do believe it was necessary. It wasn't taken for granted at all, the hard work, the solid work you've done at a local level. I also want to make sure that when we come back, we come back stronger, confident.'While the last devolution Bill defined the role of local government, McMahon told a Core Cities dinner he would tackle the ‘missing piece of the jigsaw' in devolution plans – the role for Whitehall under changed structures.He added: ‘We're going to tackle that question head-on in the devolution White Paper coming before Christmas. For devolution to work, it's not just about central government letting go; central government needs to change more fundamentally.'

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POLICY AND POLITICS

EXCLUSIVE: Reorganisation door open for 2028

By Heather Jameson, Ann McGauran | 01 October 2026

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