Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) for Southend-on-Sea

Why is devolution and LGR being proposed?

The Government believes that devolution over a large area, at the same time as LGR, can boost the economy and deliver better public services.

They think that simpler local government structures will:

• make it easier for residents to know who delivers their services
• make it easier for residents to know who deals with local issues
• result in better services for the local community

How is LGR different to devolution?

LGR aims to simplify and reduce the number of councils across the country. It will create fewer, larger unitary councils, which means:

• a more streamlined and effective system
• better value for money

Unitary councils are responsible for all council services in an area. We are an example of a small unitary council.

Devolution is about transferring powers and funding from government to local areas. This gives them powers and funding that they don't currently have.

What is Greater Essex?

Greater Essex refers to the combined area represented by:

• Essex County Council,
• Southend-on-Sea City Council, and
• Thurrock Council

What would LGR mean for Southend?

In Southend-on-Sea, the same council services would still be provided, but by a newly formed and larger unitary authority. This new council would cover a wider area than just Southend-on-Sea. It would be one of several newly formed authorities in Greater Essex, replacing the current county council, the two unitary councils, and the twelve district councils.

We have worked with other councils in Greater Essex to submit a proposal for how we could reorganise current structures. Also invited were Essex County Council, Essex's district councils, and Thurrock Council.

On 26 September 2025, four proposals for local government reorganisation in Greater Essex are expected to be submitted to the Government. These proposals range from three to five unitary authorities and can be found at essexlgrhub.org.

The government will consult on the proposals which meet its statutory tests in November 2025. It is then expected to make a decision in Spring 2026.

What's our timeline for LGR?

We submitted an interim proposal to Government in March 2025. Following this, we submitted our proposal for new unitary authorities on 26 September 2025.

The government will take forward any proposals which meet their statutory tests on to a public consultation, starting in November 2025. The government will decide on their preferred model in Spring 2026.

Elections to new shadow unitary authorities are expected in May 2027. New unitary authorities will then go fully live in April 2028.

What stage are we at with LGR?

All proposals for LGR in Greater Essex have now been published and are expected to be uploaded onto the Essex LGR Hub. On 15 September 2025, our Cabinet formally endorsed the model for five unitary authorities for Greater Essex. This decision followed an extraordinary council meeting on 10 September 2025 which saw a large consensus of our members backing the five unitary authority proposal.

Why is the proposal based on five unitary councils rather than more or fewer?

The five unitary authority model strikes the best balance between scale, local fit, and service resilience. With populations ranging from 326,000 to 510,000, each authority achieves economies of scale whilst maintaining strong local representation. Aligning with existing service footprints ensures continuity, reduces transition risk, and allows for smoother implementation of the reorganisation, while basing authorities around recognisable communities helps sustain local identity and engagement. Larger models with fewer authorities would increase complexity, risk, and bureaucracy, particularly for services like Children’s Social Care, Adult Social Care, Education, and SEND, while smaller authorities would struggle to achieve that functional scale.

To read the proposal for five unitary authorities view Creating a Local Future for Greater Essex – Five new unitary councils for Essex

For an executive summary of the five unitary authority proposal head to Creating a Local Future for Greater Essex – Five new unitary councils for Essex (Executive Summary)

Won’t creating new councils create confusion about who is responsible for what?

Creating new councils is designed to make responsibilities clearer, not more confusing, by using recognisable electoral boundaries as the basis for the new authorities, allowing residents to understand who is accountable if they need to raise an issue about a service they are using. Alongside this, area committees and locally rooted community networks will reflect the unique cultural identity of each place, giving residents a stronger voice and ensuring that local priorities are heard and acted upon throughout the transition.

Who has agreed that LGR will happen in Southend?

Following a decision by our Cabinet members on 9 January 2025, a letter from the leaders of Southend-on-Sea City Council, Essex County Council and Thurrock Council was sent to Jim McMahon OBE MP, former Minister for Local Government and English Devolution. The letter was to request that we all be included in the Devolution Priority Programme. This followed an extraordinary meeting on 8 January 2025, when the idea to write the letter was considered and supported by our Full Council.

The Government announced on 5 February 2025 that Greater Essex had been accepted onto the Devolution Priority Programme.

On 15 September 2025, our cabinet members endorsed the five unitary authority LGR proposal, which was then submitted to government on 26 September 2025.

Do residents have a say in this?

The government is expected to launch a public consultation on the LGR proposals in November 2025. This consultation will be open to all residents in Southend and across wider Essex. The consultation will provide an opportunity to provide thoughts on each LGR proposal being considered by government.

In addition, we ran a public consultation on the five unitary proposal between 25 June and 20 July 2025. The consultation was open to all residents in Southend and across wider Essex.

Will Southend still be a city after LGR?

Yes, Southend's City status will be protected. There are several things we can do to keep our city status and ceremonial mayor. We will explore them all.

What will happen to Southend-on-Sea's ceremonial Mayor?

They will continue to carry out their role as normal. Throughout the processes of LGR and devolution and afterwards, there are legal measures available that will allow us to preserve both our city status and the role of our ceremonial mayor.

How will the council's services be delivered in the future?

Devolution and LGR create opportunities to:

• transform, and
• improve services

We will prioritise the delivery of high-quality public services to the local community.

The Essex LGR Hub website has been created through collaboration between different councils in Essex. It contains further information about local government reorganisation and will also showcase the different proposals for reorganisation which are put forward by various councils.

Who can I contact if I have more questions or comments?

If you have any more questions or comments you can send us an email.