The proposal in depth
Option D, explained
Submitted to the government on 28 November 2025 by Peterborough City Council and Fenland District Council, Option D would replace all seven existing councils with three new unitary authorities — under the vision “Three councils, one future: better local services and shared prosperity for all.”
The shape of it
Three councils of roughly equal size
The business case argues that three balanced authorities — each anchored in a distinct identity — secure economies of scale, follow the government's population guidance, and give each area an equal voice on the Combined Authority. The region's 260+ town and parish councils carry on unchanged.
Greater Peterborough
≈ 290,000 residentsThe city of Peterborough and western Huntingdonshire — harnessing urban energy, a new university and strong transport links to drive inclusive growth and regeneration.
Mid Cambridgeshire
≈ 315,000 residentsFenland, East Cambridgeshire and eastern Huntingdonshire — a strong rural identity, leading agri-tech innovation and revitalising its market towns.
Greater Cambridge
≈ 320,000 residentsCambridge and South Cambridgeshire — consolidating global leadership in science and technology with local roots.
Option D is one of four options submitted by councils across the county. The final decision rests with the government.
The case for Greater Peterborough
A city and its orbit, growing together
The business case describes Greater Peterborough as a cohesive, fast-growing economic area — the city together with north-west Huntingdonshire's key settlements, including Yaxley, Sawtry, Huntingdon and Kimbolton.
GrowthA rising city
Peterborough is one of the UK's fastest-growing cities, ranked second in PwC's Good Growth for Cities Index in 2023, with a youthful, diverse population and housing being delivered at pace.
SkillsA new university
Anglia Ruskin University Peterborough opened in 2022, expanding access to higher education and working with local employers to build career pathways into high-quality, secure jobs.
InvestmentBuilding already underway
The £65 million first phase of the Peterborough Station Quarter, major housing at Hampton, Great Haddon and Norwood, and new homes and businesses emerging at the Alconbury Weald Enterprise Campus — with further growth planned at RAF Wyton and Molesworth.
RoomSpace to grow
The city's expansion is constrained by its current boundaries. Aligning with north-west Huntingdonshire opens the area to the south and west — creating space for new communities and business investment, building on a shared industrial heritage in manufacturing, logistics and transport.
Meeting the government's criteria
Six tests, six answers
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government set out the criteria every proposal must meet. Here is how the business case says Option D measures up — tap each one to read more.
Economy & housing
Each authority is shaped around a functional economic geography — real travel-to-work areas — enabling targeted regeneration, housing delivery and economic development that reflect local strengths.
Financial resilience
The model involves higher transition costs and a longer payback period than a two-council model, but creates councils of a scale capable of delivering efficiencies, absorbing financial shocks and achieving long-term value for money through transformation.
Sustainable public services
Aligning services with local identity and need empowers each authority to deliver high-quality, sustainable services — particularly in social care, SEND and housing, where Greater Peterborough's needs are distinct.
Collaboration & engagement
The proposal draws on two phases of resident and stakeholder engagement and a shared evidence base developed collaboratively by councils across the county.
Devolution & strategic alignment
Three councils of similar size give each area a clear and balanced voice within the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority, strengthening the foundation for further devolution.
Democratic representation
Smaller, more focused councils aim to strengthen community engagement and make local government more visible, accessible and accountable — with an early boundary review requested to keep representation fair.
The money
An honest look at the numbers
Independent modelling by PwC — using the same model as the government's White Paper — shows that a three-council model costs more to set up and saves less from reorganisation alone than a two-council model would.
The business case is candid about this. Its financial argument rests on what comes after: three right-sized councils, each able to transform how services are designed and delivered for its own area, with transformation benefits estimated at several times the direct reorganisation savings.
Three-council model · PwC analysis
Source: Option D LGR Business Case, November 2025 (Table 1: Summary of Financial Benefits and Costs).
Where things stand
The road to April 2028
Nov 2025
Option D and three other proposals submitted to the government.
Feb – Mar 2026
Formal public consultation on all four options; closed 26 March.
Summer 2026
Secretary of State's decision expected; joint implementation committees follow.
2027
Shadow elections and shadow authorities prepare the new councils for day one.
April 2028
Vesting Day — the new councils go live and the existing seven are abolished. Transformation follows through 2029/30.
Detail on this page is drawn from the Option D Local Government Reorganisation Business Case (Peterborough City Council, November 2025), including its appendices. Greater Peterborough would have 31 wards and an electorate of 197,084, with minor changes to councillor numbers proposed in Brampton, The Stukeleys and Hampton Vale. Figures are the business case's own estimates.