East Suffolk Council

Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation

On Monday 16 December 2024, the Government published its English Devolution White Paper. White papers are policy documents produced by the Government that set out their proposals for future legislation. 

This White Paper presents a vision for all areas of England to benefit from greater decision-making powers, devolved from central government to the regions. This would be achieved through the creation of new regional, mayoral authorities and the reorganisation of local government.

The creation of mayoral authorities is intended to be the first stage of a process.  Local Government Reform would the see the replacement of all two-tier arrangements (districts, boroughs and county councils) with new unitary authorities.

English Devolution White Paper

The ‘ask’ of Suffolk councils

All local authorities in Suffolk have been written to and invited to develop proposals for local government reorganisation. The letter is published on the Government’s website.

• The deadline for Interim Plans is 21 March 2025.
• The deadline for Full Proposals is 26 September 2025.

The district and borough councils’ position

The district and borough councils of Suffolk (Babergh, East Suffolk, Ipswich, Mid Suffolk, West Suffolk) have submitted joint interim proposals, expressing a preference for the creation of more than one unitary council to deliver services in the county.

District and borough councils’ interim report to the Government

Local elections

In February 2025,Angela Rayner MP, the deputy prime minister and secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, announced that Suffolk would participate in the government’s new fast-track Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) which would see the election of a mayor, covering Suffolk and Norfolk, in May 2026.

To facilitate change of this scale and at this pace, the government tabled legislation to postpone Suffolk County Council’s May 2025 elections.  East Suffolk Council’s current four-year electoral cycle runs from 2023 to 2028 and therefore no elections were due to take place in 2025.