Background
The government has published plans to reorganise how councils in England operate. The intention is to make local government more responsive and improve efficiency.
The plans are underpinned by two key proposals:
- Devolution - the passing of powers currently held in Whitehall to new strategic authorities with elected mayors
- Reorganisation - scrapping the current two-tier structure of county and borough councils. This will see authorities such as Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council combine with neighbouring councils to create larger, unitary bodies
The government decided that Kent will not be in the first wave of areas to form strategic mayoral authorities. However, local government reorganisation, involving the creation of unitary authorities, will go ahead in the county.
These new unitary councils will deliver existing borough services such as waste collection and planning plus those currently provided by Kent County Council such as education and social services.
What’s the future for Tonbridge and Malling?
We are in discussions with neighbouring councils and others across Kent about the best way to bring existing structures together to form unitary authorities.
In March 2025, along with other Kent councils, we submitted outline proposals to government. Key points raised in the proposal included the need for:
- new Kent unitary structures to reflect the county’s role as a gateway to the rest of the country and have sufficient financial resources to manage these challenges
- discussion with government to agree how legacy debt held by existing Kent councils is managed, apportioned and reassurance that the new unitary authorities have the ability to manage the associated debt interest payments
- clarity on funding for developing and implementing proposals for moving to new unitary structures
- proposals to manage the transition from existing local planning authorities to new ones, including how existing Local Plans will be affected
- mechanisms to enhance democratic representation, including ways to devolve greater powers, funding and responsibilities to parish and town councils
Read the Kent councils' joint submission to government on the KCC website
When are the changes going to happen?
The government has said it would like to see unitary councils operating in 2028.
What happens next?
March 2025: Having submitted our initial proposal we are awaiting a response from the government and continue to engage with our councils across Kent.
More detailed proposals are due to be submitted to the government in November 2025.
This page will be updated with the latest on this topic as we get it.