Stroud District Council will be abolished and replaced by a new county-wide authority after the Government confirmed today that Gloucestershire’s seven councils will become a single unitary council from April 2028.
The new council will take over responsibility for services currently delivered by Stroud District Council, Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucester City Council, Cheltenham Borough Council, Cotswold District Council, Forest of Dean District Council, and Tewkesbury Borough Council from 1 April 2028.
The announcement was made today (Thursday, July 16) by the Secretary of State, who said a single council was the option that best met the Government’s criteria.
According to the Government, one authority would provide a stronger platform for economic growth and housing, make it easier to deliver joined-up public services and improve opportunities for community empowerment.
A joint statement issued on behalf of all seven councils said there will be no immediate changes to the way residents access council services.
It said: “At this stage, there will be no changes to council services which will be delivered as normal. Residents should continue to access these services in the way they normally would.”
The councils said they have been working together in recent months to prepare for the Government’s decision and will continue that work while the details of the transition are finalised.
Although the councils had different views on the preferred future structure of local government, they said they remain united in ensuring residents and businesses continue to receive high-quality services throughout the process.
The statement acknowledged that today’s announcement provides greater certainty but is also likely to raise questions that cannot yet be answered.
The next stage will involve the legal creation of the new authority, followed by elections to a shadow council on 6 May 2027. That body will oversee the transition before the new unitary council officially comes into operation on 1 April 2028.
The seven councils say they will continue to keep residents, staff and partner organisations updated as more information becomes available.
Following today’s announcement that there will be a single new unitary council for Gloucestershire, Cllr Chloe Turner, Green Leader of Stroud District Council, said: “It’s a relief to finally have a decision, and to be able to start to put the many months of planning and preparation into action. Thank you to everyone who’s worked so hard so far.
“Thankfully the government seems to have listened to the people of Gloucestershire, its councils and other partners, and will not be requiring us to separate vital county services nor put the county’s finances at risk by splitting the county.
“Our priority now is to ensure that staff are well supported to deliver this huge change on top of their day job, keeping up service levels for residents and businesses, and – further down the line – that we get the best out of the reorganisation for our Stroud district communities. In particular, making sure the neighbourhood arrangements allow communities and local stakeholders to engage easily and well with this new mega-council, and that a much-reduced number of councillors is properly supported to represent and work for their residents.”
The one-unitary (Gloucestershire Council) option was the option favoured by Stroud District Green Party, the County Council and three of the six district councils. It was also preferred by all Gloucestershire’s stakeholder groups – teachers, GPs, colleges, police, voluntary, faith and business sector leaders.
Adrian Oldman, coordinator of Stroud District Green Party, said: “We regard the one-unitary as the least-worst option in what we have always maintained is an unnecessary, unwanted and massively costly reorganisation forced through by the Labour government with little consultation. The change has been shamefully foisted on us without councils having time to carry out meaningful consultation with residents.”
He added: “None of the options considered are anything other than detrimental to the residents of this county; reorganisation in any form will hurt the residents of Gloucestershire both financially and in terms of local democracy. It will move decision-making powers away from local people and dramatically reduce the number of councillors from 295 to 110 (a two-thirds reduction), making it harder for residents to access truly local representation.
“There was no mention of abolishing District or County Councils in the 2024 Labour Party manifesto. It talks about ‘devolution’ not as giving powers to local people, as most of us would understand, but instead, as giving national powers to all-powerful regional mayors who cover multiple unitary council areas. However, in Gloucestershire we will see no new powers devolved, and our communities will only lose influence over the assets and services that they care about through this process. At this point, we still have no clear pathway to Gloucestershire becoming part of a regional combined authority.
“The creation of larger, more centralised unitary authorities goes against the fundamental Green principle of subsidiarity – that decisions should be made as close as possible to the people they affect and power and resources directed down to the most local levels.
“However, given that the government is forcing through reorganisation – without having a mandate to do so – the one-unitary model will be the least damaging, allowing county-wide essential services such as roads and adult social care to continue to be provided consistently across the county.
“The breaking-up of county-wide children’s services, for example, under the two unitary authorities proposal would have risked undoing the improved outcomes achieved over the last decade and cause fragmentation of services and instability and insecurity for families.
“We are relieved that the Government has finally reached a decision for Gloucestershire, and our councillors will be focused on supporting the council to deliver the best version of the solution for the residents of Stroud District and the wider county.”
Cllr Lisa Spivey, Leader of Gloucestershire County Council said:” I am pleased that government has made the decision for one council. This is what the County Council and 3 other councils supported and government have clearly listened to us when making the decision.
“Keeping Gloucestershire together means that we can focus on the things that really matter for residents – good quality services whether that’s roads, schools or health care, and growing our economy to offer opportunity for all.
“Liberal Democrats will be continuing to focus on ensuring that there is a smooth transition to the new council and that most importantly, we design services fit for the future and where residents, businesses and our communities are embedded into the decision making which affects them.
“I will be working closely with officers, councillors, and stakeholders across Gloucestershire to make sure that we make the most of this reorganisation.
“This is not something we wished for, and the cost of delivering it is something I believe government should be funding, not Gloucestershire’s taxpayers. I will be asking government to stump up the money.
“There have been differing opinions on the models proposed amongst Liberal Democrats, but we have a proven track record of delivering for residents and will continue to do so.”
Cllr Tony Davey, Mayor of Stroud, said: “’It is helpful to finally know what local government in Gloucestershire will look like. We can now begin to work with our partner town and parish councils within the new Unitary to ensure the best outcome for Stroud’s residents.’’
Alison Robinson, Chief Executive of Stroud Town Council, said: “We can now begin the work to ensure that under the new Unitary, the assets and services that matter to residents are protected, whether that means taking some of these on ourselves, or ensuring the community is empowered to do so.”
