{"id":71683,"date":"2026-10-14T09:05:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T08:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/?p=71683"},"modified":"2026-10-14T09:05:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T08:05:30","slug":"devon-leaders-demand-government-stop-money-drain-local-government-reorganisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/devon-leaders-demand-government-stop-money-drain-local-government-reorganisation\/","title":{"rendered":"Devon leaders demand Government stop the money drain on Local Government Reorganisation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>County leaders are demanding answers from the Government on its stalled plans for local government reorganisation to allow funds to be freed up for frontline services.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last month, national plans including proposals to replace the two-tier local government structure in Devon with four unitary authorities from April 2028 were suspended by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) following the threat of legal action from councils nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since then, the County Council has been seeking clarity and also applied for a judicial review of the Devon proposals which will be triggered if they are resubmitted in their original form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Approximately \u00a32.1 million has been spent by the County Council in connection with the reorganisation and full implementation could cost an estimated \u00a3100 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">County Council Leader Julian Brazil says he would prefer to work constructively with Whitehall to drive service improvement and growth instead of taking the matter to court.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"block_acf-block-6acf37c6ba780\" class=\"councillor-quote align-right dcc grid-x\">\r\n\t<blockquote class=\"councillor-quote-blockquote medium-auto small-12 cell\">\r\n                    <div class=\"councillor-quote-title\"><p>Councillor Julian Brazil added:<\/p><\/div>\r\n        \t\t<div class=\"councillor-quote-text\"><p>\u201cWe welcome the fact that the Government has chosen to accelerate devolution and look again at Local Government Reorganisation. The government\u2019s proposals for Devon would have introduced a model which was unworkable, unpopular, and threatened to derail enormous progress we\u2019ve made in supporting young people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cImplementation of these proposals would have cost around \u00a3100m which instead should be invested in frontline services. We\u2019ve already been forced to spend nearly \u00a32 million on responding to the original proposals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLocal government delivers many of the day-to-day services that our residents rely on, especially the most vulnerable. Creating areas on maps and then trying to force services to fit those geographies is absolutely the wrong approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want us to work with Government and district councils, health bodies and the private sector to invest our energy and funds into rewiring Devon. If we can get these basics right first, then economic growth will follow. It doesn\u2019t work the other way round.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n        <div class=\"councillor-quote-aside medium-auto small-12 cell\">\r\n\t<figure class=\"councillor-quote-image grid-x\">\r\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"small-6 cell medium-12\" src=\"https:\/\/democracy.devon.gov.uk\/UserData\/7\/1\/1\/Info00000117\/bigpic.jpg\" alt=\"Councillor Julian Brazil\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\r\n        <figcaption class=\"councillor-quote-description small-6 cell medium-12\" >\r\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/democracy.devon.gov.uk\/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=117\" rel=\"noopener\">Councillor Julian Brazil, Leader of the Council<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n            <\/figure>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    \r\n    <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":70416,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[24,10,2226],"tags":[2247,2353,2261],"class_list":["post-71683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dcc-homepage","category-democracy","category-devolution","tag-cllr-julian-brazil","tag-lgr","tag-local-government-reorganisation"],"acf":[],"featured_image":{"ID":70416,"title":"Cllr Brazil","alt":"Councillor Julian 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