Future Election Costs

Question

What are the implications for local councils on the timing of elections under the Government's plans to create new super-councils?

We currently pay very little for scheduled elections because we piggy-back the district elections, but by 2027, many districts will cease to exist. Does this mean we will pay the full cost of standalone elections henceforth?

Answer 1

My council is in an area with a unitary authority and are still able to piggy back off the unitary authority elections on the same day.  There's still a charge but it's much less than the cost of a stand alone election if/when we need one.  However, I guess this will become clearer when the plans are available in more detail.

Comments

This will affect councils in different ways according to where they are in the Government's timetable. We have county elections in 2025, but there will be no district elections in 2027, when parish elections are due, as the district will cease to exist in 2027/28. The current assumption is that the county elections timetable will lead seamlessly into the new unitary authority. Unless something is done to address this, e.g. by extending the current term for parish councillors, we'll always be two years adrift and standalone.

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Unless you re-align with the county rather than the district?  I'm not sure, but is there a legislative impediment to a T/P council calling an early election in order to re-align on the basis of avoiding future cost implication?
Brave call, but true libertarians would recognise the potential cost implication of falling out of sequence with higher level elections and resign as a council thus forcing an election which could re-align.
Wow, what a test of personal integrity that would be....

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PS - great original question and genuinely forward thinking!  If only there was a government that properly considered the implications of their actions before imposing cost saving and efficiency measures which actually don't save cost but simply "move" them...

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With the County election less than 8 weeks away, it's too late for such radical thinking. I'm hoping that they extend the current term of office for local councils, as they seem to do without hesitation for the higher tiers in the reorganisation.

Having bemoaned the shortage of candidates and the proliferation of uncontested elections for the last ten yers, I'm starting to see it as a blessing!