Find out more about Local Government Reorganisation and what it means for Torbay.
We encourage you to read the information on these webpages before completing the survey. When you're ready, continue to the survey.
Local government in England is changing.
A term you are likely to hear regularly is local government reorganisation (also known as LGR). But what is it?
LGR is the process of changing how local councils are organised and what they are responsible for. The Government plans to replace the current system of district and county councils, replacing them with more unitary councils.
A unitary authority is a single council that handles all local services in an area. It can cover a whole county, part of a county, or a large town or city.
Torbay Council and Plymouth City Council are already unitary councils. Local government services across the rest of Devon are delivered by Devon County Council and one of the eight district and borough councils through what is termed ‘two tier’ arrangements. Reorganisation would see the end of all two tier arrangements and see the creation of unitary councils covering all of Devon.
The Government has said in its English Devolution White Paper that they want to create unitary councils that serve at least 500,000 people. However, they have recognised that there may be exceptions to this figure to make sure the new system works well for each area. Each decision will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Devon (including Plymouth and Torbay) has a population of around 1.2 million, meaning – based on the maths - the most likely number is two or three unitary councils.
We do not have a choice about taking part in the re-organisation. Government has committed to it and have invited proposals from areas. Even if we did not to submit a proposal, Government will make decisions about re-organisation of local government in Devon which could include Torbay.
Areas were asked by Government to submit interim plans in March 2025. As an area, all the Devon councils received feedback on those interim plans in June 2025. Full proposals need to be submitted by 28 November 2025.
Timelines for the remainder of the LGR process are subject to the proposals received. However, elections to shadow authorities could be expected in May 2027 following the 2026 consultation, with new unitaries going live in April 2028.