FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – STATEMENT BY CLLR ANNA BAILEY, LEADER OF EAST CAMBRIDGESHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL
GOVERNMENT CHAOS MEANS EAST CAMBS RESIDENTS WILL VOTE AGAIN ON EXISTING COUNCIL BOUNDARIES IN MAY 2027
Cllr Anna Bailey, Leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council, has described the Government’s handling of local government reorganisation as “utterly shambolic” after ministers confirmed they are halting the process in order to carry out a review and that local elections in May 2027 will now go ahead on existing council boundaries.
“For nearly two years councils have been told that local government reorganisation is happening. We have been required to spend huge amounts of time, money and officer capacity preparing for it, consulting residents, developing business cases and planning for new councils.
“We were told in July that Cambridgeshire and Peterborough would have to wait because Government needed more time. Now we are being told that the whole process is being reviewed following legal advice.
“This is an extraordinary way to govern. I seriously object to the uncertainty that ministers have created for councils, staff, residents and tax payers.
“I believe passionately in small, local government. I believe decisions are better when they are made close to the people they affect, by Councillors who know their communities and can be held directly to account by their residents.
“I am proud of our record at East Cambridgeshire where we have frozen our element of Council Tax for 13 years. We are one of only two councils in the country to remain debt free. We still provide free parking, free green waste collections and high quality services. We have invested millions in community infrastructure. We have a proud record of preventing homelessness. We are a successful council precisely because we are small.
“Our experience in East Cambridgeshire demonstrates that a small run council can be innovative, financially prudent and ambitious for its communities.
“The Government needs to stop treating local government like pieces on a Whitehall chessboard and start listening to the people who actually live in our communities.
“For East Cambridgeshire, the immediate consequence is that we will not have an election next May. I welcome the opportunity to put our track record before residents. The Conservative administration is proud to defend our record of achievement and to set out our plans for the future.
“We will continue to fight for a council that is local, financially responsible and accountable to the people it serves.”
– ENDS-
Notes to editors:
• The Government today announced that Local Government Reorganisation would be halted pending a review and that elections to existing councils would go ahead as scheduled in 2027 – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2zkj09dy4o
