Finance chiefs have earmarked £10 million for work on local government reorganisation (LGR) as part of Hertfordshire County Council's 2026-27 budget proposals.

Hertfordshire currently operates under an upper two-tier system of local government, with the county council above 10 district and borough councils.

The county council operates services including social care, children's services, highways, public health, trading standards, waste disposal, libraries and the fire and rescue service. The district and borough councils are responsible for planning, housing, waste collection and parking within their boundaries.

By April 2028, those 11 councils are expected to be replaced by two, three or four unitary authorities, each of which would be responsible for all local services within their areas.

Last November, Hertfordshire councils submitted proposals to the Government for how many unitary authorities they would like to see the county divided into. Within weeks, the Government is expected to launch its own consultation on LGR, which is scheduled to be in place by April 2028.

According to the county council, the "substantial" costs of transitioning to a unitary structure are in the region of £50m. Its draft budget document for the financial year starting in April allocates £10m for LGR, with additional funds expected to be made available by the 10 district and borough councils.

The document says: "Given the short timeline and the requirement to disaggregate services in all cases, between now until April 2028 the county council will need to proceed with transition work ahead of the Government decision in summer 2026."

Overall, the council's draft 2026-27 budget document outlines how a £1.2bn revenue spend will be used to deliver services for the county's population of 1.2 million people – including the need for £55m of savings and a 4.99% rise in council tax.

The £10m for LGR costs would be funded by 'capital receipts'.

On Wednesday (January 14), a meeting of the council's cabinet backed the draft budget proposals. They will now be scrutinised over the next month before the budget is ultimately determined by a meeting of the full council on February 17.