The reorganisation of Hertfordshire's councils has been delayed by a year, the Government has announced.

Jim McMahon, local government minister, announced today (Thursday, October 29) that the decision to replace the county council and 10 district or borough councils with four new unitary authorities under local government reorganisation (LGR) has now been "withdrawn".

A new decision will be made by "early next year", the Government said, with the aim of holding elections to shadow unitary authorities in May 2028 before they formally take power in 2029.

Elections to existing councils will now go ahead in May next year.

Mr McMahon said that in areas including Hertfordshire "all options and proposals … will remain under consideration and I'll approach all of those with an open mind".

It means the decision to introduce four unitary authorities in Hertfordshire, with each one taking over all county, district and borough council responsibilities, could be changed. Proposals were also put forward for the county to be split into two or three unitary authorities.

The Government announced its original four unitary decision in July, but paused the LGR process in September after councils across the country began to explore the possibility of judicial reviews against the proposed shake-up.

Mr McMahon said today that the decision to withdraw the decisions for Hertfordshire and other areas where LGR is expected was "not a reflection on the work underpinning those proposals".

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The minister added that the review of the LGR process had concluded that it was "robust" and that the "existing criteria" for assessing proposals would remain in place.