Councillors back merger of two boroughs and city

Nottinghamshire County Council needs to finalise its proposals by the end of November

Plans to create a new local authority made up of the areas currently covered by Nottingham City Council and neighbouring Gedling and Broxtowe have been backed by county councillors.

The future political map of Nottinghamshire was discussed at an extraordinary county council meeting on Tuesday.

Reform UK, which leads the county council, supports a proposal known as option 1b, which would see Gedling and Broxtowe joined with Nottingham, with the rest of the county served by a second unitary council.

Councillors voted by 43 to 11 to develop a full case for option 1b, to be presented to the government by the end of November.

Tory opposition councillors said residents in Broxtowe and Gedling did not want to be part of a council including the city.

They accused Reform UK of "betraying" residents in Broxtowe and Gedling and warned they could face higher council tax bills and poorer services.

Reform UK said Option 1b was the best solution for the county and city

The Tories proposed the council back plans to keep Nottingham's political boundaries as they are now, with the rest of the county served by another unitary authority.

However, a Conservative motion proposing that plan was defeated by 39 votes to 16, with three abstentions.

Reform UK described the motion as "pure theatrics" and said option 2 was never likely to be approved by ministers because they wanted the new councils to have populations of about 500,000, and Nottingham's would fall short of that.

Council leader Mick Barton told the meeting: "This has been the toughest thing I have ever had to deal with and I have been a councillor for 22 years.

"We have dealt with this as professional councillors since day one."

He said the former Tory county council administration had failed to deal with local government reform for 10 years before Reform took control of the council in May.

"We have dealt with it in four months," he told the meeting.

Barton said there would be "future engagement" before the final proposal is sent to the government.

Conservative campaigners gathered before the meeting on Tuesday

One Reform UK county councillor, John Semens, who represents Arnold North, voted against option 1b, saying he had "to maintain the trust" of voters in Gedling.

However, he said Barton still had his "absolute support" as leader.

Tory group leader Sam Smith said residents in Gedling and Broxtowe had been "sold down the river" by Reform UK and the Labour government, and said option 1b was intended to "prop up" the "bankrupt" Labour-run city council.

He said option 2 would protect public services in the county and deliver £27m of annual savings through efficiencies.

Smith also said another option should be explored - for the city council boundary to be extended to include Nottingham's greater urban area but not include entire districts with rural villages.

The Tories pushed for option 2 - one council for the city and one for the rest of the county

Labour county councillor for West Bridgford North, Penny Gowland, said the Tories were talking down Nottingham.

She said the city council's financial problems were caused by years of underfunding by the former Tory government.

The city council had "turned a corner" with its finances under the current Labour government, she added.

Broxtowe Alliance county councillor Teresa Cullen, who represents Beeston Central and Rylands on the county council, told the meeting she did not support any of the options.

"We are being forced to make decisions that are all bad decisions," she said.

Ministers are expected to reach a final decision on the future council structure in Nottinghamshire in March 2026, and they say the new-look councils will be established in 2028.