A plan to split Hertfordshire into four new unitary authorities is the most popular option among the county's existing councils ahead of plans to shake up local government.

In recent weeks, the county council and all 10 district and borough councils have been choosing their preferred options for the upcoming reorganisation of local authorities.

Today (Friday, November 28), they will send the Government a joint submission stating which option each council supports, with options on the table to split the county into two, three or four separate unitary authorities.

The Government-led reorganisation is set to see Hertfordshire's county, district and borough councils abolished, with new unitary authorities created in their place.

The new authorities will take over all county, district or borough council responsibilities within the area they cover.

It means that services previously divided between the two tiers of local government will be placed under the control of a single authority.

Six councils chose to support the four-unitary option, with three backing the three-unitary model and two in favour of the two-unitary model.

Those backing the four-unitary option included:

• Broxbourne (Conservative administration)
• Dacorum (minority Liberal Democrat)
• Hertsmere (Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition)
• North Herts (minority Labour)
• Stevenage (Labour)
• Welwyn Hatfield (Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition)

The three-unitary model was supported by Liberal Democrat-run Three Rivers and Watford, as well as the Green-Liberal Democrat administration in East Herts.

Both councils to back the two-unitary option – St Albans and the county council – are run by the Liberal Democrats.

In several councils – East Herts, North Herts and Welwyn Hatfield – the option being formally backed is not the one preferred by all councillors. Cabinets in those authorities chose to back their own preferred option rather than the preference of the full council.

In Dacorum, meanwhile, the cabinet agreed to go with the full council's preference despite it failing to align with their own preferred model.

Financial modelling suggests that the two-unitary model would bring the greatest cost savings at up to £418m in the first 10 years, while supporters of the four-unitary option argue that it would maintain greater local representation.

Every option is predicted to make savings over the first 10 years. 

The two-unitary option would see Hertfordshire divided into East and West authorities covering populations of around 600,000 each, while the three-unitary model would create Western, Central and Eastern authorities of between 350,000 and 480,000 residents each.

Under the four-unitary model, there would be West, South-West, Central and East authorities covering areas of around 300,000 people each. 

A Government consultation on the proposals for local government reorganisation in Hertfordshire is expected in spring next year, before a final decision is made in the summer.

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