Advocates of two new councils for north and south Warwickshire received a boost this week after the national government opted to create smaller unitaries in other areas.

Warwickshire's six county, district and borough councils are set to be abolished by April 2028 as part of local government reorganisation. 

Currently, Warwickshire County Council deals with the bigger services such as social care, education and highways, while the region's five districts and boroughs handle housing, bin collections, off-street parking and council tax collection.

The idea is to bring all those services under one level of local government – unitary authorities – to save money and provide clarity on who does what. 

The debate is over how big those unitaries should be, balancing financial prudence with the need to areas don't get left behind.

Warwickshire County Council has made the case for one county-wide unitary, a case that has been backed by Rugby Borough Council despite its reservations over the county seeking 'continuing authority' status while the new council is set up.

The other four districts and boroughs, despite being run by a mix of political persuasions, have united behind a two-unitary model covering Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon districts in the south and Rugby, North Warwickshire and Nuneaton & Bedworth boroughs in the north.

The government's initial guidance stated the unitaries should have populations of 500,000 or more – data from 2024 showed Warwickshire to have around 632,000 inhabitants – but four regions in the second tranche have all been permitted to form smaller unitaries. 

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In Norfolk and Suffolk, each current county council advocated single unitaries for respective populations of approximately 923,000 and 760,000 but the government plumped for three separate councils in each of those areas.

The smallest of those – Ipswich & South Suffolk Council – will serve around 252,000 people. 

Elsewhere, five unitaries will be formed to replace 15 councils across two tiers in the Greater Essex region with alternatives for three and four unitaries rejected. There will also be five unitaries across Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton with an option of four unitaries among those rejected.

In his statement to the House of Commons this week, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government Steve Reed MP (Lab) highlighted to the other 14 areas going through this process that "the decisions taken here, and previously in Surrey, do not set any precedent".

He added: "Decisions will be taken individually based on the published criteria, the merits of each proposal we receive and the local context."

However, Warwick District Council leader Cllr Ian Davison could not help being heartened by the outcomes when addressing this week's meeting of full council. 

"They have mainly chosen smaller unitary options," he said.

"The average size of these new unitaries is 357,000 overall. In Suffolk one is only 252,000, well below the 500,000 population mark. 

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"Of course, the government states that this does not set a precedent but it does mean that the two-unitary option in Warwickshire stands a good chance in my view."