Open petition: Require primary legislation & referendum for any council restructure proposal

Created by Barry David Lobban
Closes on 5 September 2026

Amend the law so creating combined authorities, re-organising local authorities into “super councils”, or cancelling local elections can't be done by secondary legislation. Primary legislation should be passed for any proposal, requiring binding local referendums before it comes into force.

We believe that democratic control of local government is a core part of our constitution and that people are seeing large “combined authority” and “super-council” deals that move power away from their town halls, sometimes abolishing or merging councils with little scrutiny. We think doing this without proper parliamentary scrutiny and clear local consent is a breach of the trust on which government power is held.

There should be a national framework setting clear principles, such as when restructuring can be proposed, minimum consultation and evidence standards, and the requirement for referendums.

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