Angela Rayner, in her new role as Communities Secretary, has halted Labour's contentious reorganisation of English local councils, throwing the process into fresh disarray after several authorities launched or threatened legal challenges. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it was withdrawing decisions already made in some areas and pausing others while it reviews the process, citing "updated and privileged" legal advice and a desire to align the plans with new Prime Minister Andy Burnham's approach to devolution. The move follows at least eight councils pursuing or considering judicial reviews over reorganisation decisions taken under the previous prime minister, Keir Starmer.

Decisions on reorganising councils in Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk have been withdrawn outright, while plans for 14 further areas, plus Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and West Sussex, will be reviewed and paused. Surrey is unaffected, with its two new unitary authorities, East and West Surrey, still set to launch next April, and local elections in May will proceed on existing council boundaries. Rayner is expected to tell Parliament she wants to ensure the process is "robust" and lawful while testing whether the plans, which aim to scrap the two-tier county and district council system in favour of unitary authorities, still meet the new administration's priorities. Reform UK, whose Kent County Council is considering a judicial review, claimed credit for forcing the Government's climbdown.