THE LEADER of Essex County Council has issued a statement confirming that he has started legal proceedings over Local Government Reorganisation.

Councillor Peter Harris, Leader-elect of Essex County Council, said: “Last week I wrote to the Secretary of State, the Rt Hon. Steve Reed MP, about my intention to legally challenge Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).

“I am pleased to confirm that Essex County Council has now initiated legal proceedings against the Government.

 
“As I wrote last week, the Government’s proposals are ill-thought, expensive, purely ideological in nature and seek to create further democratic distance between the people of Essex and their elected local politicians.
 
“We will resist the premise of Local Government Reorganisation robustly on behalf of the 1.6 million residents of Essex that have sent us to County Hall to do exactly that.”