Local Government Reorganisation decisions have been made and changes are afoot for Rutland, Stamford and South Kesteven- but what does it all mean?
Listen to this special episode from Rutland & Stamford Sound which explains what will happen to our local councils, why the changes have been made and how our political figures including MP Alicia Kearns and Rutland County Council leader Christine Wise feel about the decisions.
It has been annoucned that Rutland will no longer have its own local authority, but instead join with the wider Leicestershire area in a new unitary council which will include North West Leicestershire, Melton, Hinckley and Bosworth.
The reorganisation is a landmark moment in the political landscape of the local area, with Stamford and South Kesteven also seeing changes as they join an authority which will span up to Skegness, but will not include Lincoln itself.
MP for Rutland and Stamford Alicia Kearns said in a statement: “At my public meetings residents in Stamford and Rutland alike wished to join together.
“Instead, we face a distant authority with fewer and more remote Councillors, and years of upheaval to come.”
Rutland was taken into Leicestershire in 1974 but regained its independence in 1997 and local worry about a loss of identity with over 7,100 signatures on the Save Rutland petition.
The city of Leicester will be a second council authority including Oadby and Wigston and Kearns is thankful that Rutland has not been joined with an enlarged Leicester City Council.
Stamford and South Kesteven will now be part of England’s second largest council area with around 580,000 residents.
Whilst the official handover is scheduled for April 2028, new council elections will take place in May 2027 and until then all existing councils will operate as usual.
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