Essex County Council has today confirmed elections for county councillors, due in May, will not take place this year after the Government accepted the Council's application to the Devolution Priority Programme.
I am against the postponement of these important elections and will making this clear to the Council's leadership team.
The Leader of Essex County Council, Cllr Kevin Bentley has issued the following statement about the decision:
"I am writing to you with an update on Devolution in Greater Essex.
As you will know, on Friday 10 January we held an extraordinary meeting to discuss devolution and local government reform, and to decide whether to participate in the government’s Priority Programme for Devolution.
Following this meeting we, alongside Southend-on-Sea City Council and Thurrock Council wrote to the Minister to request participation in the programme.
Today (5 February 2025) the Government confirmed that Essex is one of the areas to have been accepted onto the Devolution Priority Programme.
The Government has also confirmed that the elections scheduled for May this year for Essex County Council and Thurrock Council will be suspended. A consultation exercise on Devolution proposals for Essex will begin in the next few weeks, and we will provide more information on this in due course.
We will now work with colleagues at Southend-on-Sea City Council and Thurrock Council and the Minister in terms of next steps on Devolution and with all Greater Essex Councils on proposals for Local Government Reorganisation, and keep you updated on progress and key developments. We will also be sending you an invitation in the coming days to attend a briefing session in Parliament to discuss these proposals in more detail."
