Purpose

To advise the Cabinet about the English
Devolution White Paper published on 16 December together with
consideration of committing to:
 

·      
Devolution and local government reorganisation for Gloucestershire
and
 

·      
requesting the Minister of State to delay the County
Council’s elections and introduction of the changes to the
Gloucestershire electoral boundaries to May 2026.

Decision

Cllr Stephen Davies presented the report which
sought to:
 
•       
advise the Cabinet about the English Devolution White Paper
published on 16 December 2024 and

•       
to endorse the Leader’s response to the Minister of State for
Local Government and English Devolution’s letter (‘the
Minister of State’) dated 16 December 2024 to:

o  
give a clear commitment to delivering local government
reorganisation and devolution for Gloucestershire

o  
requesting the Minister of State to postpone the Gloucestershire
County Council elections and the introduction of the
Gloucestershire electoral boundary changes to May 2026.
 
Having considered all of the information,
Cabinet noted the report and

RESOLVED to:
 
 

Endorse the Leader’s response
set out in the Appendix 2 to the Minister of State’s letter
of 16 December 2024 to give a clear commitment to delivering both
reorganisation of local government and devolution for
Gloucestershire.

Delegate authority to the Deputy
Chief Executive and Executive Director for Corporate Resources (in
consultation with the Leader of the Council) to make further
amendments to the letter prior to its submission to the Minister of
State within the scope set out in this report.