{"id":6347,"date":"2026-09-07T13:51:05","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T13:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/?page_id=6347"},"modified":"2026-09-08T14:13:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T14:13:03","slug":"local-government-reorganisation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/?page_id=6347","title":{"rendered":"Local Government Reorganisation"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"6347\" class=\"elementor elementor-6347\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d7fbfc8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"d7fbfc8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6d28ad5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6d28ad5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Sir John challenges the Government\u2019s plans for local government reorganisation, highlighting constituents\u2019 concerns about decisions becoming more remote, expensive and less accountable. He asks whether maintaining the existing arrangements remains an option and seeks clarification on the proposed 2028 Essex mayoral election.<\/p><p>To hear his full question and the Government&#8217;s response, read the transcript and watch the video below.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c06a7ea e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"c06a7ea\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a564d07 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"a564d07\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Debate Highlights<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bc9f794 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"bc9f794\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-60ac65b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"60ac65b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>John Whittingdale Conservative, Maldon<\/strong><br \/>My constituents never asked for local government reorganisation. They do not support local government reorganisation, which they see as leading to decisions being taken by a more remote, more expensive and less accountable authority. Will the Secretary of State confirm that maintaining the status quo is at least an option as a part of her review, and will she also say whether the intention is still to go ahead with the mayoral election in Essex in 2028?<\/p><p><strong>Angela Rayner The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government<\/strong><br \/>Let me gently say to the right hon. Member that, as I have already said, I think that local government reform can unlock potential for areas, but we want to do this with areas, and, indeed, to look into how we can deliver for his area and improve services for his local constituents.. There are opportunities, but sometimes there is duplication, so I welcome that discussion. As for taking forward the devolution agenda, I do not envisage that being interrupted by this process.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ab7365a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"ab7365a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d905dfb elementor-widget elementor-widget-video\" data-id=\"d905dfb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;youtube_url&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/youtu.be\\\/fq7G8dt9iuo&quot;,&quot;autoplay&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;play_on_mobile&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;mute&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;loop&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;cc_load_policy&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;video_type&quot;:&quot;youtube&quot;,&quot;controls&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"video.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-wrapper elementor-open-inline\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-video\"><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sir John Whittingdale questions whether maintaining the existing local government structure remains an option and seeks clarification on plans for the 2028 Essex mayoral election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6337,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6347","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6347"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6351,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6347\/revisions\/6351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}