The government has paused the East Herts and Broxbourne unitary. Shadow authority elections are off, and East Herts votes as usual in May 2027.

The plan to abolish East Herts District Council and merge it with Broxbourne has been paused, and the election that was to create the new authority will not happen.

The government announced the pause on 7 September. The clearest statement of what it means locally came the next day, from Angie Ridgwell, the senior responsible officer for the Hertfordshire reorganisation programme:

“As part of this announcement, the Government has confirmed that the elections to the Shadow Authorities will not take place in May 2027. Local authorities will continue with their usual cycle of local elections for 2027.”

Her statement was published by North Herts Council on 8 September on behalf of all eleven Hertfordshire councils.

For a Bishop’s Stortford resident, that is the practical change. You were going to vote in May 2027 for councillors on a brand new authority covering Broxbourne as well as East Herts. You will now vote for East Herts District Council, on the boundaries and in the wards that exist today.

What was decided in July, and what has stopped

On 16 July the then Secretary of State chose a four-council model for Hertfordshire. East Herts was placed in the grouping the councils called “Eastern”, made up of:

  • Broxbourne Borough Council
  • East Herts District Council
  • five wards from North Hertfordshire District Council
  • one ward from Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council

The ward of Arbury was moved out of “Eastern” and into the “Central” grouping in the same decision, because of what the letter called its links to Baldock and the A1 corridor.

The decision letter also settled the point that has now been reversed. Elections to the new unitary councils were to be held in May 2027, and, in the letter’s words, “these elections to the new unitary councils will replace any scheduled local elections, and affected councillors will have their terms extended” (decision letter to Hertfordshire council leaders, 16 July 2026). The new councils were to take over on 1 April 2028.

The pause takes all of that off the table for now. The government’s letter to council leaders says the review “includes decisions taken in July 2026 and the 2 outstanding areas awaiting decisions”, and that it “does not impact the decision taken in Surrey” (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 7 September 2026). Hertfordshire’s decision was taken in July, so Hertfordshire is in the review. No date has been published for the review to report.

Timeline of local government reorganisation in Hertfordshire to 9 September 2026 Seven-stage timeline. November 2025, Hertfordshire's eleven councils and the Police and Crime Commissioner submit three unitary models. 16 July 2026, the government selects four unitary councils and places East Herts with Broxbourne in the grouping called Eastern. 4 September 2026, East Herts publishes notice of a 6 October decision to set up a joint committee for the new area. 7 September 2026, the government pauses the programme and confirms shadow authority elections will not take place. May 2027, East Herts District Council elections now go ahead on the usual cycle. 1 April 2028 was the date the new council was to take over, now uncertain. The review has no published reporting date. Fourteen months of work, stopped three days after the next step was tabled Local government reorganisation in Hertfordshire, as recorded in the councils' and the government's own published documents. Nov 2025 Hertfordshire's 11 councils submit three unitary models to government 16 Jul 2026 Government picks four unitaries. East Herts joins Broxbourne in "Eastern", with five North Herts wards and one from Welwyn Hatfield 4 Sep 2026 East Herts publishes notice of a 6 October decision to set up a joint committee for the new East Herts and Broxbourne area 7 Sep 2026 Government pauses the programme. Shadow authority elections cancelled May 2027 East Herts District Council election goes ahead on the usual cycle 1 Apr 2028 Date the new council was to take over. Now uncertain Review ends No date published Sources: MHCLG decision letter to Hertfordshire council leaders, 16 July 2026; MHCLG programme review letter, 7 September 2026; East Herts Council forward plan published 4 September 2026; statement from the Hertfordshire LGR programme, 8 September 2026. Graphic by Bishop's Stortford News
The joint committee decision was tabled on 4 September. The programme stopped on 7 September.

East Herts was still planning for the merger three days before it stopped

The council’s forward plan of key decisions, published on 4 September, lists an Executive decision due on 6 October 2026 with the title “Establishment for a Joint Committee for the East Hertfordshire and Broxbourne Unitary Authority Area is Support of Local Governance Reorganisation”. The lead officer is named as Jonathan Geall, and the notice of the proposed decision was first published on 4 September (East Herts forward plan, October 2026 to January 2027).

Three days later the programme was paused. The item was still on the forward plan when this page was checked on 9 September.

The council has said nothing

East Herts Council had published no statement about the pause when we checked on 9 September. The newest item on its latest news page is dated 2 September, and its standing future of local government page carries no mention of the review.

Broxbourne, the other half of the proposed council, published on the day. Its leader, Councillor Corina Gander, was blunt:

“Today’s announcement by the Government, with no notice, to pause Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Hertfordshire is yet another example of how it has mishandled the whole LGR process.”

She said councils had committed “substantial officer time and taxpayer-funded resources” to meeting government deadlines, and that the change of direction “has resulted in abortive expenditure which could have been used on vital services such as SEND”. Broxbourne, she added, “never wanted local government reorganisation”, but had argued for the four-council model because it “maintains the strongest links to local communities” (Borough of Broxbourne Council, 7 September 2026).

Hertfordshire County Council’s own devolution page had also not caught up. On 9 September it still told residents that “elections will be held in May 2027 to elect the councillors who will run the new councils”, and listed “May 2027, elections for shadow authorities” on its timeline (Hertfordshire County Council).

What it means for you

  • You will vote for East Herts District Council in May 2027. The last district elections were held on 4 May 2023, and the council elects all of its seats at once every four years, so the 2027 poll was always due. The July decision would have replaced it; the pause restores it.
  • Nothing changes about your services now. East Herts still empties your bins, bills you for council tax and decides your planning applications, and Hertfordshire County Council still runs roads, schools and social care. Nothing was due to move until April 2028 in any case.
  • The money already spent is not coming back. The government had committed £900,000 in transition support per new unitary, plus up to £150,000 each for leadership capacity in children’s services, adult social care and public health, out of £63m nationally. Broxbourne’s leader has called the work done so far abortive expenditure.
  • There is no deadline for an answer. The review has no published reporting date, and neither the government’s letter nor the Hertfordshire programme statement says what happens if it concludes the July decision should stand.

We will update this page when East Herts publishes its own position, or when the 6 October joint committee item is either taken or withdrawn.

Our other pages on the council: council tax bands, planning news and bin collection days.