Newcastle-under-Lyme demands answers over Government’s LGR decision
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council is demanding that the Government explains how it reached its decision on Local Government Reorganisation in Staffordshire.
The authority has sent a pre-action protocol letter to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, seeking clarification on precisely what information the previous Secretary of State, Steve Reed, considered when deciding to merge Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Moorlands into a new North Staffordshire unitary authority.
Councillor Jonathan Gullis, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and Cabinet Member for Planning and Town Centres, said:
We want the Government to show us its working so we can properly understand how this decision was reached, what evidence was considered and whether the process was fair and robust.
Once we have seen that information and considered the Government’s response, we can then take further legal advice and decide what legal avenues, if any, may be available to Newcastle-under-Lyme to challenge the decision.
We fundamentally disagree with being forced into a merger with Stoke-on-Trent City Council when it is carrying around £791 million of debt and has required nearly £70 million of exceptional financial support from Government in recent years.
Newcastle-under-Lyme residents did not create Stoke-on-Trent’s debt and they should not be expected to pick up the bill for it through higher council tax, cuts to local services or money being diverted away from our communities simply to deal with liabilities accumulated elsewhere.
If they genuinely believe this new North Staffordshire authority will be financially sustainable, then they should be prepared to explain how almost £800 million of existing Stoke-on-Trent debt will be dealt with and why residents in Newcastle-under-Lyme should be expected to carry any of that financial risk.
Newcastle-under-Lyme did not ask for this, our residents did not vote for it, and if the Government is determined to impose it on us, we will use every reasonable avenue available to stand up for our Borough and its taxpayers.”
The Council has taken independent, external legal advice on its position before acting.
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council and Stoke-on-Trent City Council will be abolished and replaced by one unitary authority in spring 2028.
A shadow authority will be created in May 2027, when the three councils will begin planning how to merge services and take on responsibilities from Staffordshire County Council, which is also being abolished.
Staffordshire’s other councils – Stafford, Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Tamworth and South Staffordshire – will form a second, separate unitary authority.