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06 March 2026 / Fred Philpott
Issue: 8152 / Categories: Opinion , Judicial review , Local government , Public
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Worse than a U-turn?

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One for the history books: Fred Philpott reports on the abandonment of the government’s plans to postpone local elections

Last month, the government revoked an order postponing local elections in many parts of England for a year. This has been labelled a U-turn. It was not a U-turn: it was capitulation in the face of an almost certain defeat in the High Court.

Background

The government’s manifesto includes a proposal to reform local government. Some areas have unitary authorities (eg Luton) which replaced the system, going back to the end of the century before last, of county councils (generally with responsibility for matters such as highways, education and social services) and, at the next level, district councils dealing with waste collection, rate collection, planning etc.

The current proposal is, in very general terms, to amalgamate all district and county councils into unitary authorities. For example, it is likely that all the district councils in Hertfordshire will cease to exist, as will Hertfordshire County Council, all being replaced by two unitary

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