The current arrangement of local government in Warwickshire is set to change over the next three years.
At present there is a two-tier system of government, with Warwickshire County Council and five district councils (North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Rugby, Warwick and Stratford).
The county council runs education, social services, strategic transport planning, road maintenance, libraries and cultural services, public transport, waste disposal, public health, trading standards and emergency planning.
District councils are responsible for housing, local planning, waste collection, street cleaning, environmental health, food safety, pollution and pest control, parks and recreation, community centres, elections, council tax billing.
However, the Government now requires that in the future there is a single tier of local government, with larger authorities that will run all of these services.
The problem is that the county council and the districts have different ideas about how things should be divided up.
Councillors at Warwickshire County Council have decided they should form a new single unitary authority to cover the whole county.
That was the conclusion of county councillors after four hours of debate at Shire Hall on Tuesday 14th October 2025.
The alternative approach is to split the county into two separate larger districts. The two-council approach would see Warwick and Stratford merge in the south with Rugby, North Warwickshire and Nuneaton and Bedworth in the north.
So far, Stratford, Warwick, North Warwickshire and Nuneaton and Bedworth have all expressed a preference for splitting the county in two. Rugby Borough Council is due to vote on the issue on 19th November.
The government has set a guiding target of about 500,000 people per new council. The current population of Warwickshire is about 600,000.
A final decision will ultimately be made by the government with elections for the newly formed council, or councils, to be held in 2027. The new set-up will then run as a shadow operation until taking full control in 2028.
In considering the future, Warwickshire County Council has also voted to become part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).
The combined authority, is a group of local authorities including Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Walsall, Sandwell, Solihull and Wolverhampton, which has devolved powers from the government to make decisions on strategic issues like transport and housing. The mechanism for extending the Authority is not known.
It is anticipated that if a single authority for Warwickshire is established, it will be accompanied by a move to set up town and parish councils, with limited powers, to cover the towns that have lost their councils.