County's devolution bid may see election delayed

Izzi Seccombe said her authority was "ready to go" with devolution

The six county, district and borough councils are set to be abolished if Warwickshire County Council gets the go-ahead to delay next May's local elections.

If the government backs the bid, it would pave the way for a single unitary authority to be established across the county in 2027.

The government has said it would consider postponing elections in this way after inviting expressions of interest for local government reorganisation.

The Conservative leader of the authority, Izzi Seccombe, confirmed she would be asking for a unitary authority based on the current borders and led by a leader and cabinet, not a mayor.

The government is set to sift through all expressions of interest, which must be filed by 10 January, and decide which areas go in which waves.

If Warwickshire is in the first wave, elections for the new unitary authority would take place in May 2026 and the new body would take control from April 2027.

If the government places Warwickshire in the second wave, elections are likely to take place as planned in May 2025, with the rest of the timescales put back by one year.

That would mean the new unitary would then take over from April 2028.

While she has had no meetings with the government on this, Seccombe said she believed Warwickshire was, and was seen to be, "ready to go".

She also said it was important Warwickshire was allowed to shape its own future.

"We don't want this done to us, we want to be able to shape it ourselves," she said.