Worcestershire Unitary Council Halted

The Government has today confirmed what Liberal Democrats have warned for months: this top-down reorganisation diktat was on shaky ground, but the damage is already done.

Our local councils have earmarked millions of pounds for this botched reorganisation, and staff have even made life decisions based on these announcements.

Now we find the process in limbo, with elections to a council we thought would be disbanded now going ahead next May. What's worse, a string of authorities are relying on reorganisation to dig themselves out of serious financial difficulty, and those councils are now left with nothing. This whole episode has caused serious democratic harm, and ministers must answer for it.

Angela Rayner must urgently set out what happens next for communities left in limbo and give a cast-iron guarantee that residents are given a proper timeline of what will happen next. Is this a pause, or are unitary authorities to be shelved?