Charlotte Cane MP condemns “absolute shambles” as Labour delays council reorganisation decision

Charlotte Cane MP has criticised the Labour Government after it deferred its decision on Local Government Reorganisation in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough until October.

On 16 July, the Liberal Democrat MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire pressed Secretary of State Steve Reed in the House of Commons, asking how residents would be involved in the Government’s additional work and whether electoral officers would receive extra resources to prepare for elections while the future council and ward boundaries remain unknown.

You can view footage of Charlotte questioning the Minister here.

Responding to the announcement, Charlotte Cane MP said:

The government has just announced that it won’t be announcing the plans for the Local Government Organisation in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough because they ‘need to do more work’. But when I asked about the process for that extra work to make sure that local residents would be involved, I got no answer. I also asked whether electoral officers would get extra resources for trying to organise an election for a council whose boundaries they don’t know, whose ward boundaries they don’t know, and how many councillors they don’t know. This is an absolute shambles and it’s one entirely of Labour’s making. They have had months to sort out, months to go back to local representatives and local communities to discuss further and make sure they choose the right option. And today, right on the last day in Parliament, they announced that no, they haven’t made up their mind.