Agenda and minutes

The Chair advised the Council that the meeting was being recorded and streamed

online in accordance with usual practice.

Councillor J. Lee notified the Council that he would be recording parts of the meeting.

Councillor J. Lee declared an interest as a Members of Nottinghamshire County Council and the Nottinghamshire & City of Nottingham Fire and Rescue Authority.  

The Leader of the Council presented a report which outlined the contents of the Governments English Devolution White Paper which set out the requirements for local government reorganisation and the specific plans to be developed in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. The report outlined the work undertaken to respond to those requirements, and to endorse the submission of an interim plan for the area of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire which was required to be submitted to the Government by 21 March 2025.

The interim plan at appendix C to the report, had been developed by officers across the nine Councils in Nottinghamshire with independent support and advice from PWC.

In presenting the report, the Leader of the Council confirmed his intention to withdraw recommendation (b) from the report as it was not necessary at this stage to express a preference for any options.

In the debate, the Council considered the process and timescales being proposed by the Government, noted that at least one other local authority in the county were supporting a three unitary councils model, and supported a full public consultation exercise prior to any new model being implemented.

AGREED (with 32 votes for and 1 against) that:

a)      the interim plan for local government reorganisation in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire as attached at Appendix C to the report be endorsed for submission to Government by 21 March 2025;

b)      the reference within the interim plan, seeking support from Government for adjustments to District/Borough boundaries where they are considered to provide more “sensible geography” be noted, but acknowledging that such adjustments would be unlikely to take effect until after the establishment of the new unitary Councils;

c)      the Council engage with Town and Parish Councils in the development of the next phase of work, recognising the importance of ‘sub-structures’ that will sit beneath the new unitary Councils; and

d)      the Council continue to work collaboratively with other Nottinghamshire authorities with a view to developing a proposal for a single tier of local government in Nottinghamshire for submission to Government by 28 November 2025.