The county council is to formally back a proposal to replace Hertfordshire's 11 existing main councils with two new unitary authorities under local government reorganisation (LGR).

Herts currently operates under an upper two-tier system of Hertfordshire County Council and 10 district and borough councils.

Next week council leaders must submit proposals to the Government to replace that structure with a smaller number of unitary authorities.

They have already drafted a joint submission to Whitehall that includes proposals for two, three or four unitaries. As part of the submission process, all 11 councils have been asked to formally back one of those three options.

On Thursday (November 20) the county council's Liberal Democrat cabinet determined that the council would back the option to split the county into two unitary authorities: East and West.

An eastern Herts unitary authority would consist of the areas currently covered by Broxbourne, East Herts, North Herts, Stevenage and Welwyn Hatfield councils. West would be made up of Dacorum, Hertsmere, St Albans, Three Rivers and Watford.

Unlike the current two-tier structure – where some services are delivered by the county council and others by a district or borough council – each unitary authority would be responsible for all services within their borders.

According to the draft submission, under the two-unitary proposal each authority would serve a population of around 600,000 and have a total of 234 councillors across the two.

Estimates suggest it could cut local government costs by around £50 million a year, with estimated cumulative savings of between £366m and £418m in the first 10 years.

Backing the two-unitary option at the cabinet meeting, Cllr Chris Lucas, HCC's executive member for resources and performance, said that it was the most cost-effective of the three options and the "most effective in terms of how we can seamlessly segue into the disaggregation".

County council leader Cllr Steve Jarvis said that it was clear the Government wished to go down the "route of unitarisation", and in Hertfordshire the most effective way to do that and to deliver services was via two unitary authorities.

He stressed the importance of how the new unitaries would engage with their local communities, regardless of how many there were, suggesting this could be done effectively by two.

Cllr Jarvis suggested that how this turned out for the people of Hertfordshire would "depend far more on the decisions that are taken by the unitary councils than it will on how many there are".

He acknowledged concerns about the transition to a unitary structure in the short term.

"My personal assessment is that in the long term what the Government proposes will deliver better local government," he said. "I think in the short term it has the real prospect of not achieving that.

"It is concerning the amount of time and effort from officers across the councils that will have to be devoted to this.

"And I think, in so far as possible, we need to limit the impact on the councils' day-to-day business and support for people across Hertfordshire.

"But I think it is probably not realistic to expect that is going to be zero."

The cabinet's decision came 24 hours after a dramatic meeting of the full council at which members had also backed the two-unitary option.

But in a shock move, Conservatives walked out of the council chamber before the 'indicative' vote was taken.

At the cabinet meeting, Cllr Paul Zukowskyj, executive member for environment, growth and transport, backed two unitaries despite having voted for the three-unitary option at a meeting of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.

He told colleagues that his vote reflected the view of the council as expressed by the indicative vote the day before.

"I am here today to support the two-unitary option because I think, as a democrat, I can do nothing other than follow the will of the full council," he said.

Executive member for children's social care Cllr Anthony Rowland said that there were benefits to unitarisation. But he also highlighted the council's role as 'corporate parent', suggesting that having those responsibilities under one authority made sense.

Meanwhile, Cllr Mark Watkin, executive member for education, SEND and inclusion, pointed to the council's "SEND journey", with ongoing work to improve services, school provision planning and work to ensure equality of service and opportunity across the county.

He said the reorganisation plans could be "disruptive" and cause staff to address different priorities.

"I absolutely accept the situation we are in and, of course, will vote for two, because two is better than three, three is better than four, in the world I am addressing. But I just think it's a shame this is going to have consequential harm before we see the benefits, such as they will be."

All the cabinet members present at the meeting backed the two-unitary option. Cllrs Ajanta Hilton and Stephen Giles-Medhurst were absent.

Members agreed to send a letter to ministers expressing concerns about the processes being used for LGR that had been raised by some councillors at Wednesday's meeting of the full council.

These concerns, the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands, include the pace of change required and the potential impact on services and residents.

Council leaders will submit their LGR proposals by the November 28 deadline.

A Government consultation on the proposals for LGR in Hertfordshire is expected next spring before a final decision is made in the summer.

The provisional timeline sets out that elections to the new unitary authorities would be held in May 2027 before taking over from the current councils in 2028.