Exeter City Council has spent almost £1million preparing for a massive local government shake-up that may not happen.
Councils across Devon have been counting the cost of getting ready for the nationwide Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) which has now been put on the back burner.
The government has halted the process it began, which would have done away with district and county councils in favour of large unitary authorities. Exeter would expand its borders under the proposals, as would Plymouth and Torbay, leaving the rest of the county as a fourth unitary council for Devon.
Now a question mark hangs over the whole process after Local Government Secretary Angela Rayner suspended the process after receiving legal advice.
Exeter City Council leader Phil Bialyk (Lab, Exwick) told a meeting of the full council that between April 2024 and September 2026 the council had incurred additional costs of £652,401 in relation to LGR work, and the value of officer time spent on it added up to a further £346,586.
“This figure does not include costs incurred by Devon County Council on behalf of the wider county,” he said.
To date the council has received just under £35,000 from the government towards the costs.
Cllr Bialyk said the government had pledged at least £900,000 to each new unitary authority to set up its new services, but was not clear if that offer was still on the table.
Devon authorities have submitted a joint letter to the government asking for the money back.
And, said Cllr Bialyk: “We are still committed to wanting LGR if that is possible. It would be the right thing for us, so hopefully the government will come back positively on it.”

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