Your questions, answered

It's a government programme to replace England's remaining two-tier council areas — where a county council and district councils split responsibilities — with unitary councils that run every local service for their area. In Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, all seven existing councils will be abolished and replaced with new unitary authorities from April 2028.

Option D is the proposal submitted to the government by Peterborough City Council and Fenland District Council in November 2025. It would create three new unitary councils: Greater Peterborough, Mid Cambridgeshire and Greater Cambridge — each serving roughly 290,000–320,000 residents. It's one of four options the government is considering.

The whole of the current City of Peterborough, plus nine wards of western Huntingdonshire: Alconbury, Brampton, Huntingdon East, Huntingdon North, Kimbolton, Sawtry, Stilton Folksworth & Washingley, The Stukeleys and Yaxley — 31 wards in total. You can explore every one on our interactive map.

Because that's how the area already works. Communities like Yaxley, Sawtry and the Stukeleys look to Peterborough for work, shopping, study and healthcare, and the business case describes a shared industrial heritage in manufacturing, logistics and transport. It also gives the city, whose growth is constrained by its current boundaries, room to grow to the south and west.

No abrupt changes are expected. The first priority for the new councils is that services are safe, legal and continuous on day one — bins collected, care delivered, schools supported. Improvements and integration come gradually in the years after launch.

Nothing. Town and parish councils are not affected by reorganisation — the region's 260-plus town and parish councils carry on exactly as they do now, with the same responsibilities.

It's too early to say. Council tax levels for any new unitary authority haven't been set, and rates currently differ between areas, so some harmonisation would be needed over time. The implementation plan schedules council tax alignment work during the transition and the new councils' first year.

One council for everything. Instead of working out whether an issue belongs to the county council or a district council, residents of the new area would have a single front door for every service, from potholes and planning to social care.

The government. The Secretary of State will assess all four proposals against published criteria, alongside the responses to the public consultation that closed on 26 March 2026, and can implement a proposal with or without modification — subject to Parliamentary approval.

A decision is expected in summer 2026. After that, joint implementation committees would be set up, shadow elections held in 2027, and the new councils would go live on “Vesting Day” in April 2028.

Yes — twice locally and once nationally. Councils ran two phases of resident and stakeholder engagement during 2025, and the government held a formal statutory consultation on all four options from 5 February to 26 March 2026. Those responses now feed into the final decision.

Four options were submitted in total. Cambridgeshire County Council proposed two unitary councils split north/south (Option A); Cambridge City, East Cambridgeshire and South Cambridgeshire councils proposed a different two-council split (Option B); Huntingdonshire District Council proposed three councils on existing district lines (Option E); and Option D is the Greater Peterborough proposal described on this site.

PwC modelling in the business case estimates one-off transition costs of around £41 million for a three-council model, with direct net savings of about £1.4 million a year. The stronger financial argument is transformation: redesigning services around each area's needs, estimated at £11.7–16.9 million a year once delivered.

The proposal is based on the existing 31 wards with an electorate of 197,084, with small adjustments — Brampton and The Stukeleys gaining a councillor and Hampton Vale reducing by one. The business case also asks the Boundary Commission to carry out an early review so representation stays fair across the new area.

Staff delivering services would transfer to the new councils under the usual legal protections (known as TUPE), which is planned as part of the transition programme. Keeping experienced people delivering services is central to continuity on day one.

Peterborough City Council asked the government to cancel its scheduled May 2026 local elections to free up capacity for reorganisation — a common step in areas being reorganised. The first elections for the new arrangements are expected to be to the shadow authority in 2027, which prepares the new council before it formally takes over.