COUNCIL Leader, Councillor Chris Whitbread has written to fellow councillors and employees of Epping Forest District Council following the decision of Essex County Council earlier today to apply to the government’s priority devolution and local government reorganisation programme.

“Epping Forest District Council is expected to become part of the Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation process outlined in the recent government white paper, following endorsement of the proposals by Essex County Council on Friday (10 January). The County Council decision echoes similar endorsements by Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea Unitary Councils earlier in the week.

Essex, Southend and Thurrock will now write formally to the government requesting inclusion in the government’s priority programme.

The decision commits Essex to:

1. Commit to take part in the devolution Priority Programme. This would see a mayoral county combined authority established in April 2026 and a mayoral election take place in May 2026
2. Commit to local government reorganisation 
3. Request the Secretary of State to postpone Essex County Council May 2025 elections 

The councils will now wait to hear from the government on whether Essex has been accepted as part of the priority programme.

Why bid for inclusion in the priority programme?

In fact, Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation has already taken place across many parts of the UK. The government made clear in its white paper that it expects remaining areas to be reorganised before the end of this Parliament. Inclusion in the priority programme includes an incentive for local areas to lead the reorganisation process, while the government may impose its own proposals in those areas that do not take the initiative.

Should the government accept the inclusion of Essex in its priority programme, the current two-tier arrangement of district and county council in Epping Forest will be replaced by a new unitary authority. The new unitary will assume all the roles currently carried out separately by the District and County.
The government white paper suggests that new unitary councils will be larger than the districts they replace.

Changes must be in the interests of our residents

At the core of these changes must be the interests of our residents. We know how confusing the two-tier system can be for our residents, let alone for officers and councillors at times. We also know the potential benefits of economies of scale. But we also know the importance of local accountability, transparency and democracy.

The government says it expects new unitary councils to have a population size of 500,000 people or more. The population of Essex is approximately 2 million. That suggests fewer new unitary councils will be much larger than the tier-two district, borough and city councils they replace.

We would be replaced by a new unitary council made up of us and several of our neighbours. It’s too early to say exactly what the new local government map of Essex will look like, but we would obviously look to our closest neighbours as our most likely partners.

Governed by an elected mayor

The other key component of the proposals is a combined authority governed by an elected mayor for the whole of Essex, responsible for the strategic coordination of the new unitary councils and new powers devolved from central government. The mayor would also take on the police and fire service responsibilities currently held by the Police and Fire Crime Commissioner.”