The government has withdrawn controversial proposals for a North Staffordshire 'super council' following a review – with a fresh decision on local government reorganisation set to be made by early next year.

Staffordshire's councils were due to be replaced with new northern and southern unitary authorities under the decision on LGR announced in July.

Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands would form the new North Staffordshire unitary, with the rest of the county covered by a Southern and Mid Staffordshire council.

But in September the government announced the process would be paused and reviewed following a number of legal challenges from existing councils.

Local Government Minister Jim McMahon told the House of Commons yesterday (29 October) that the first phase of the review had been completed, with the decisions for Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire and eight other areas now being formally withdrawn.

Mr McMahon said he would look at the options for each area with an 'open mind', with new decisions due to be announced either before Christmas or early in 2027.

While it is possible that the same north-south option for Staffordshire will be chosen again, Mr McMahon said this would not necessarily be the case.

Five proposals for new unitary authorities in Staffordshire were previously submitted by the county's existing councils.

Mr McMahon said: "To be clear, all options and proposals in these areas will remain under consideration and I will approach all those with an open mind.

"As such, it should not be assumed that the same proposal will be automatically selected.

"It's important to allow the process to run its course and to allow full and proper consideration.

"We will move faster where we can, and some of the remaining areas may receive an outcome before others.

"I commit to coming back to the House for an update with another set of areas by Christmas, and every area will have an outcome by early next year."

Mr McMahon said the review had found that the LGR programme as a whole is 'robust', and using the correct criteria, and he reiterated the government's commitment to replace the existing two-tier system of councils with larger unitary authorities.

He announced that the previous LGR proposals for five areas of England would be implemented, but insisted that they were 'new' decisions following 'full and thorough consideration'.

Mr McMahon acknowledged the 'cost of uncertainty' for the councils still awaiting a decision, and said the government would now pay half the previously-announced transition funding in each area being reviewed.

For Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire this will mean £900,000, with the remaining transition funding due to be paid once a final decision is made.

The north-south proposal for Staffordshire has been very controversial, especially in Newcastle-under-Lyme and the Staffordshire Moorlands, where some councillors saw the planned North Staffordshire unitary as a 'power grab' by Stoke-on-Trent.

Jonathan Gullis, leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, described the government's decision to press ahead with LGR as an 'abomination'.

He said: "This is a delay, not a reprieve.

"Labour's plans would abolish Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, ending more than 850 years of independent borough government.

"That is an abomination. Generations of civic pride, local identity and democratic independence swept aside by a minister in Westminster.

"Our borough belongs to the people who live here.

"Yet ministers seem determined to impose their answer, rather than listen to alternatives or give residents the final say."

Cllr Gullis said that once the final LGR decision is made, the borough council will ask its King's Counsel to look at possible grounds for challenging it through a judicial review.

Newcastle-under-Lyme MP Adam Jogee, speaking in the Commons following Mr McMahon's statement, called on the government to focus on devolution in Staffordshire instead of LGR.

The government announced yesterday that it is in the final stages of agreeing a new strategic mayoral authority for Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.

Mr Jogee added: "I welcome the announcement that the minister has scrapped what I would call the disgraceful and discourteous announcement made in July.

"He's right to throw it out.

"But my constituents in Newcastle-under-Lyme want and deserve certainty and clarity, and I didn't hear much of it in the statement."

Mr McMahon said he also backed devolution in Staffordshire, but insisted the new strategic authority has to be built on a 'strong foundation of local government'.

At the moment, local services in Staffordshire are divided between the county and district councils, while Stoke-on-Trent has a single unitary council.

The government intends to abolish the two-tier system and replace the existing 10 councils with two or more unitaries.

Stoke-on-Trent North MP David Williams told the Commons that the current system caused 'constant confusion' for his constituents in Kidsgrove.

He said: "If a resident wants to raise issues with a local park, they go and speak to the borough council.

"If they want a pothole fixed, they have to speak to the county council.

"And at the same time we're paying for managers and directors at two councils rather than one, which is a waste of public taxpayers' money."

But Mr Williams also asked the government to provide clarity over LGR in Staffordshire.

The other LGR options proposed for Staffordshire included an east-west split, backed by the county council, and a three-unitary proposal with north, south-east and south-west councils.

Header image via Roger D Kidd on Geograph.