Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007
Act letting the Secretary of State invite unitary proposals from English councils.
Ministers withdrew four March decisions made under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 on 7 September 2026, citing updated legal advice, and put all 14 decisions made under it in July into rapid review.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026
Timeline for Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007
Mentioned in: McMahon drops four mergers on legal advice
UK Local Elections 2026Background
The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 is the legal basis for turning two-tier areas of England into single-tier, or unitary, councils. It received Royal Assent on 30 October 2007.
Part 1 sets out the process. Section 2 lets the Secretary of State invite or direct councils to propose a single tier of local government for their area. Section 7 lets the Secretary of State implement a proposal by order, with or without changes, or decide to take no action.
Its history is one of legal reversals: after the High Court quashed the Exeter and Norwich orders in 2010, the Local Government Act 2010 barred further orders on proposals already received. In 2026 the Act again carries a national programme, and again faces challenge in the courts.
Ministerial discretion leaves decisions open to challenge
The 2026 reorganisation programme runs on this Act. On 7 September Jim McMahon pulled the March decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk following updated legal advice, and placed the 14 decisions made in July under rapid review.
Each decision is a ministerial judgement under section 7, which lets the Secretary of State implement a proposal by order, amend it, or do nothing. That discretion is where councils can attack: a claim argues that the criteria were misapplied, not that the power is missing. The Act's first round of reorganisation ended in court too, when the High Court quashed the Exeter and Norwich orders in June 2010.