Have your say on plans for the future of local councils
Residents, businesses and other stakeholders across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are being asked for their views on the future of local government.
It follows an announcement by the Government in December, setting out plans to move towards a new system of local government, removing the current two-tier structure of district and city councils and county councils. Existing unitary councils including Peterborough are also included. Access the survey online.
From April 2028, rather than dealing with separate county, city, and district authorities, residents will access all services - from road maintenance and bin collections to education, planning, social housing, social care, and support with benefits - through a unitary council.
Where areas have parish and town councils, these will not be affected and will continue to operate as they do now.
All seven of the councils in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have therefore been working together to discuss potential options for a new arrangement of councils.
At this stage, no decisions have been made on what these new arrangements could look like.
Three options for reorganisation in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough were shared publicly in early June 2025.
The survey does not ask people for their views on the three options; the aim of the survey is to provide key information and gather public feedback before proposals are developed and submitted to the Government in November. There will then be further consultation, before Government ultimately makes a final decison.
We are committed to making engagement accessible so if you require the survey in other formats, please email communications@scambs.gov.uk or call 01954 713000.
The survey closes at midnight on 20 July 2025.
FAQ: Local government reorganisation
We have tried to answer what we believe will be some of the most common questions around local government reorganisation.
We will be keeping this page updated so if you have a question that has not yet been answered, come back in the near future.
Local government reorganisation is all about upcoming changes in the structure, responsibilities, and boundaries of local councils in England. A Government White Paper on English Devolution, published in December 2024, proposes significant changes to how local councils are structured. The plan is for reorganisation in ‘two-tier’ areas such as Cambridgeshire - where there are both district and county councils. In Cambridgeshire, the idea will be to replace multiple layers of councils with one larger Council – a Unitary Authority.
That has not yet been confirmed.
We held an Extraordinary Full Council meeting on Wednesday 19 March 2025 to discuss local government reorganisation and a Cabinet meeting to discuss the same topic followed later that same day.
Since then, all seven of the councils in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have been working together to discuss potential options for a new arrangement of councils. Three options – based on existing Council boundaries - are currently on the table. Following initial work between all seven local councils, these three options are all deliverable and have different strengths.
Proposal A - A North-West/South-East Option
Unitary 1: Peterborough City Council, Huntingdonshire and Fenland District Councils - along with County Council functions.
Unitary 2: Cambridge City Council, East Cambridgeshire and South Cambridgeshire District Councils - along with County Council functions.
Proposal B - A North/South Option
Unitary 1: Peterborough City Council, East Cambridgeshire, Fenland and Huntingdonshire District Councils - along with County Council functions.
Unitary 2: Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District - along with County Council functions.
Proposal C - An East/West Option
Unitary 1: Peterborough City Council, East Cambridgeshire and Fenland District Councils - along with County Council functions.
Unitary 2: Cambridge City Council, Huntingdonshire and South Cambridgeshire District Councils- along with County Council functions.
Before these proposals for potential new structures are submitted to Government in November, we need to hear what local people think. You can complete a public survey that runs until the end of the day on Sunday 20 July 2025.
Ultimately, it will be for the Government to decide on any new local Council structures.
As outlined in our report for our Full Council meeting on Wednesday 19 March 2025, the benefits of local government re-organisation are intended to include the opportunities to help transformation in the longer term by bringing services together which can support improvements. This could include more support for preventative and holistic services focused on the needs of local people and communities, while making it simpler for residents to understand who is responsible for the services they receive.
The Government has also been very clear that financial savings are expected through the process of reducing the number of councils.
Overall, the Government White Paper on Devolution says “If we are going to build an economy that works for everyone, we need nothing less than a completely new way of governing – a generational project of determined devolution.”
Council leaders across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are meeting to discuss proposals, though consensus has not yet been reached on a single option. Councils then have to submit proposals to Government.
The final decisions on which new local government structures are put into place in Cambridgeshire will ultimately be made by central Government.
Reorganisation presents both opportunities and challenges for South Cambridgeshire District Council and residents. Benefits include the potential for improved services through more functions ‘under one roof’, clearer accountability for residents, and potential financial savings - which are explicitly expected by the government.
However, significant risks exist, including potential loss of local representation, due to the increase in size of any new Unitary Authority compared to the current District Council, possible Council workforce instability during changes, substantial implementation costs, and setting a single Council Tax charge across an area which has previously had multiple councils all setting their own Council Tax charges.
Yes. In 2023, new unitary authorities were established in North Yorkshire, Somerset, and Cumbria. Other reorganisations have occurred in Dorset (2019) and Northamptonshire (2021).
However, the difference now is that the Government expects, as a minimum, all Council areas across England where there is currently a two-tier system in-place to be reorganised.
The Government asked for an initial response all councils in England by 21 March 2025.
We therefore held an Extraordinary Full Council meeting on Wednesday 19 March 2025 to discuss local government reorganisation – and the Council’s initial response. A Cabinet meeting to discuss and formally approve that response then followed later that same day.
We are now encouraging residents and businesses to feed into the process by sharing what matters most to them through an engagement exercise which runs until the end of the day on Sunday 20 July 2025.
Responses to this engagement exercise will be used to feed into the Business Cases that will be developed by the councils – which must be submitted to Government in November 2025.
We are encouraging residents and businesses to feed into the process by sharing what matters most to them through a survey which is open until the end of the day on Sunday 20 July 2025.
Responses to this engagement exercise will be used to feed into the Business Cases that will be developed by the councils – which must be submitted to Government in November 2025.
Yes. The Government has been clear that ‘two-tier’ Council areas like Cambridgeshire will see city / district and county councils replaced by unitary authorities.
The Government is asking county and district councils to reorganise into unitary authorities. Town and parish councils are not currently being asked to change.
No. All councils in Cambridgeshire will be abolished. Whatever new Unitary Authority, or authorities, are created in Cambridgeshire, they will be governed through the new elected members of that Council/s.
There is always a possibility that Council Tax could change – it is a key source of funding for Council services. South Cambridgeshire District Council has set its budget for the 2025/26 financial year and it is too early to indicate what might happen with regards to Council Tax levels in future years, and for when any new unitary authority is in place.