Peterborough councillors choose preferred restructure option
Peterborough city councillors have chosen Option D as their preferred option for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) – but not all were in agreement with one group leader labelling the process a “farce”.
An extraordinary full council meeting was held on November 12 which saw all councillors passionately debate two options for LGR (Option A and Option D) before voting for a preferred choice.
A total of 36 councillors voted for Option D while just four voted for Option A, two abstained and eight councillors (all Conservatives) refused to cast a vote.
Peterborough City Council’s ruling cabinet will make a final decision next week before submitting the preferred choice to central government, which will ultimately have the final decision on which option to implement.
LGR means that from April 2028, the current seven councils in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, including Peterborough City Council, will no longer exist and be replaced by larger unitary councils.
It is part of the government’s plans to transfer more powers and funding from national to local government and move away from the current two-tier system of district and county councils in England.
The two options being debated were as follows:
Option A ‘North and South’ – Unitary 1 (Peterborough, Fenland, Huntingdonshire), Unitary 2 (East Cambs, South Cambs, Cambridge City)
Option D ‘Greater Peterborough’ – Unitary 1 (Peterborough, West Hunts), Unitary 2 (Fenland, East Hunts, East Cambs), Unitary 3 (South Cambs, Cambridge City)
At the full council meeting the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green Party groups, as well as some members of Peterborough First and independents, made clear that they would be supporting Option D, highlighting its potential to maintain Peterborough’s identity.
Meanwhile, the Conservative group, some Peterborough First members and independents felt Option A was the best option, noting its greater financial benefits and much shorter payback period.
Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald, leader of the Conservative group, labelled the whole LGR process a “farce” and claimed that Option D, an option put forward by two local Labour MPs Andrew Pakes and Sam Carling, was being done for “political purposes”.
“As clear as night follows day, on paper, Option A is the option to go for,” he said.
“I’ll tell you what we [Conservative members] are going to do: nothing. Because we have no confidence in this decision-making process or its outcome.”
Peterborough First councillor Gavin Elsey also voiced his support for Option A.
He said: “It’s really disappointing that when we have this opportunity to restructure […] we’ve only looked inside Cambridgeshire.
“When you look at the 50 year payback on Option D, it doesn’t serve us well at all. The reality is that it’s an option which was brought by the two Labour MPs and we’re now hearing perfectly scripted speeches in favour of it.”
Labour council leader Cllr Shabina Qayyum said the claims that Option D was being proposed for political purposes, including Conservative councillor Steve Allen’s accusation of gerrymandering, were “insulting”.
She said: “Why would anyone here seek to gerrymander an idea when we are here at full council and this vehicle has been provided to us to make a decision that is going to affect everyone in this city.
“There are councillors here that represent socially and economically deprived wards and they have a right to say how they feel about what option they want to go for, irrespective of this being, as you say, a political decision.”
Cllr Qayyum added: “Numbers alone don’t really tell the full story. They don’t mark out or predict what regional growth is going to be like and actually, Option D offers public benefits that go beyond the balance sheet.”
Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Christian Hogg, who voted in favour of Option D, claimed Option A would be “diluting our locality”.
Green Party group leader Cllr Heather Skibsted also spoke in support of Option D, saying it was the “most forward thinking and locally responsive solution”.
What happens next?
Peterborough City Council’s final submission of a preferred option for LGR must be made to government by November 28.
This submission will be confirmed by the council’s ruling cabinet on November 18.
The decision on which new council structures are put in place will ultimately be made by the government, with elections for shadow authorities expected in April 2027 before full implementation in April 2028.