Bid to delay Warwickshire Council elections rejected by government

The application to delay elections for Warwickshire County Council amidst devolution discussions has been rejected by government.

Izzi Seccombe, the Conservative leader of the current Warwickshire County Council has been pushing ahead with plans to reform into a unitary authority.

The application for the delay has been denied

To do this, she requested an election delay from the national government. The application for the delay has been denied.

The unitary authority plans to aim to reduce bureaucracy and make local administration more efficient by cutting out 2-tier local governments, devolving more power, and ‘merging into one’ single body which oversees specific tasks.

Seccombe had requested an election delay following an estimate that the election might cost £1 million.

She described this as “quite profligate at a time when budgets are really challenged”.

This would have meant another election would be necessary once the unitary authority was formed.

She also hoped that Warwickshire could be included in the first round of councils to be transitioned to devolution.

Opposition to the poll day delay came mostly from Liberal Democrat and Labour councillors, who argued that the Conservatives were trying to hold power for longer than they were mandated to.

Individual council leaders have emphasised the importance of fully considering “residents, communities, businesses and staff” amidst devolution plans.

Rayner did, however, reaffirm the goal that all English councils will become a unitary authority by the end of Parliament

Despite Seccombe’s aspirations, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced that Warwickshire has not been shortlisted as one of the first nine councils to switch.

Rayner did, however, reaffirm the goal that all English councils will become a unitary authority by the end of Parliament.

The government has argued that the amendments to local governance are necessary to create “simpler and more effective” structures and reduce the “unnecessary layers of bureaucracy”.

As a result, Warwickshire is now set to go to the polls on Thursday 1 May.