‘Why does St Albans District Council not establish itself as a unitary authority?’

The Leader of the Council and the local MP’s office give their answers

screenshot from https://www.hertfordshire-lgr.co.uk/_files/ugd/872bc9_6e873813c1ea41bfbe9eb96700c6885b.pdf

Local government in England is in transition. If the government’s plan is fulfilled by 2028, St Albans City and District Council will be replaced by a new unitary authority, which will also see the disappearance of other neighbouring councils.

I believe this will be a loss of local identity and an erosion of local democracy. It seems there is no active campaign to stop it.

Two weeks ago, I wrote to my local newspaper and asked the above question. The letter is below. Below it, there is a second letter which contains the answers I received from the leader of the local council and the local MP’s office.

The paper didn't publish the second letter, so as it answered my question, I decided I would share it here for anyone else who was wondering.

London Colney

Sunday 18th January 2029

Dear editor,

In the recent St Albans Council consultation regarding local government reorganisation, I raised the question, although I have not had an answer: ‘Why does St Albans District Council not establish itself as a unitary authority? Some may say it is too small, but a quick glance at the link below will show other councils with a similar population, such as Blackpool, Bracknell Forest, Darlington, Halton, Hartlepool, Isle of Wight, Redcar and Cleveland, Rutland and Torbay.

[embed]List of unitary authorities of England - Wikipedia This is a list of unitary authorities of England.en.wikipedia.org

I am hoping that through your newspaper, I may get an answer.

Yours sincerely,

Gordon Jackson

London Colney

Sunday 25th January 2026

Dear Editor,

I have received two answers to my letter of last week, ‘Why does St Albans District Council not establish itself as a unitary authority?’

One from Will Elliott, Senior Policy Researcher, to Daisy Cooper MP, reads as follows:

“Regarding your suggestion that St Albans City and District Council could become a unitary authority in its own right, I am afraid this wasn’t an option presented by the government, who are leading these changes.

The criteria set down within the English Devolution White Paper (see here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67ade9866e6c8d18118acd58/English_Devolution_White_Paper_Web_Accessible.pdf ) and the subsequent English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (see here: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/4002 )

Further helpful background is available here, from the County Councils Network: https://www.countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk/new-unitary-councils-to-be-created-must-cover-at-least-500000-people-to-save-billions-and-free-up-investment-into-local-services-report-reveals/

Essentially, any proposal put forward for Hertfordshire should mean each unitary has a population of at least half a million, which would not be the case for St Albans’ existing district council area.

You rightly identify that there do exist some smaller unitary authorities at present. However, in many cases they have been asked to merge or otherwise combine with neighbouring authorities to create larger unitary councils which do meet the 500,000 population criteria.

An example is Brighton and Hove council, which has a population almost twice as large as St Albans district but is being asked to merge with neighbouring districts in East or West Sussex.

You can find further detailed information on what the government’s plans mean for Hertfordshire, and follow progress and updates, online here:

*https://www.hertfordshire-lgr.co.uk/ “*

The other was from Councillor Paul de Kort, Leader of St Albans City and District Council

“It is not under St Albans District control to form its own unitary.

The Government announced that they wanted the reorganisation to happen across Herts about nine months ago. They then laid down the criteria for how it could consider to subdivide and have been clear that ones of just 150,000 population are not acceptable to it, as they are looking for substantial long-term cost savings. They do refer to exceptions to this rule but they tightly define these. I imagine that this might mean an Isle of Wight or one with similar geographical constraints.

The conversations that Herts Leaders have had with the local government ministers have all confirmed that their flexibility away from their 500, 000 population guide might reach down to 300–350,000 but would have no prospect of going lower, so no individual Herts council has pursued this, as it would be work, time and money in vain.”

This has been an educational and informative process, although it doesn’t resolve my misgivings about the abolition of St Albans District Council.

Right now, I am concerned about how a Government can bring in such a change to local identity and democracy without opposition.

Yours sincerely,

Gordon Jackson