Ministers told leaders on 7 September to stop work on the April 2028 merger. Three days on, the official Staffordshire hub still promises new councils in 2028.

Lichfield District Council was told on 7 September to stop work on its own abolition. The government has paused the reorganisation programme that was to fold the district into a new South and Mid Staffordshire unitary authority in April 2028, and has not said when the review will report.

The instruction is in a letter to council leaders from Jim McMahon MP, Minister for Local Government, Devolution and Regional Growth. It is short and it is blunt.

  • The Secretary of State withdrew the March 2026 decisions for four areas: Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock; Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton; Norfolk; and Suffolk.
  • A review of the whole programme is under way, led by the minister, and it “will include reviewing the 14 decisions made in July”.
  • Leaders were asked to “cease work on implementing the decisions that were announced in July” until the review concludes.
  • Elections scheduled for May 2027 “will go ahead to existing council boundaries”, rather than being replaced by elections to new councils.
  • East Surrey and West Surrey are unaffected, because those councils are already established in law.

Staffordshire’s decision was made on 16 July 2026, which puts it squarely in the reviewed set. The letter gives no date for the review’s conclusion. It says only that next steps “will be communicated early and clearly to the sector”.

What the official channels still say

The joint programme website for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent is run by Staffordshire County Council. On the evening of 10 September, three days after the letter, its home page still told residents that “the new councils are expected to be established in April 2028, with elections to shadow councils held in May 2027”. The timetable on the same page carries the note “this timetable is subject to change”.

Its most recent update is dated 7 September, the day of the letter. The headline is “Voluntary joint committees set up to help plan Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent’s new councils”, and it opens: “Work is continuing to prepare for two new councils in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.” It sets out that:

  • two voluntary joint committees are being formed, one per new council area
  • the South and Mid Staffordshire committee has 12 members, six from the district and borough councils and six from Staffordshire County Council
  • the North Staffordshire committee has eight
  • 11 project teams, called workstreams, are planning how services, staff, buildings and finances move across
  • the committees are “expected to meet for the first time in late October 2026” and will stay in place “until the shadow authority elections in May 2027”

Those are the elections the minister’s letter says will now be fought on existing council boundaries instead.

Lichfield District Council had published no statement of its own on the pause by the evening of 10 September. Its news feed runs to 10 September and carries nothing on reorganisation. Its July response still stands unamended, and still says the new arrangements “are expected to come into effect in April 2028, following elections to shadow authorities in May 2027”.

In that July statement, Councillor Doug Pullen, Leader of Lichfield District Council, said the merger was “not a change we sought” and “not the outcome we preferred”, and that the council would work to make sure “the interests of Lichfield District continue to be strongly represented”.

What was decided in July, and where it stands now In July 2026 the government decided that Lichfield District Council would be abolished on 1 April 2028 and folded into a South and Mid Staffordshire unitary authority of 682,775 people, with shadow authority elections in May 2027. On 7 September 2026 the minister asked leaders to cease implementation work, put the July decisions under review with no reporting date, and confirmed that May 2027 elections will be held to existing council boundaries. Decided in July. Under review since 7 September. Sources: MHCLG letter to council leaders, 7 September 2026; Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent LGR hub. DECIDED 16 JULY 2026 POSITION SINCE 7 SEPTEMBER Lichfield District Council abolished 1 April 2028 Folded into South and Mid Staffordshire, 682,775 people, six districts plus county Shadow authority elections May 2027 Joint committee and 11 workstreams preparing the handover Leaders asked to cease implementation work The 14 July decisions are under review, no reporting date May 2027 elections go ahead to existing council boundaries Council services unchanged either way Graphic by Lichfield Today
The July decision for Staffordshire, set against the minister's letter of 7 September.

What it means for you

Nothing changes about your bins, your council tax bill or your planning application. Reorganisation was always a change of structure rather than of service, and the pause does not alter who collects your rubbish or bands your home. Our Lichfield bin collection days and council tax bands pages are unaffected.

The May 2027 election looks like a district election again. Under the July decision the poll would have elected a shadow authority for the whole of South and Mid Staffordshire. The minister’s letter says elections scheduled for May 2027 now go ahead to existing council boundaries. Lichfield District Council last elected all 47 of its seats on 4 May 2023, according to its own election results record, and on a four-year cycle the next ordinary district election falls due in May 2027. The council has not published a polling date.

The new Local Plan carries on. The council opened its Local Plan 2046 scoping consultation on 7 September, the same day as the letter. Its own summary document says the government “has been clear that plan making should be prioritised and not be unnecessarily delayed by any ongoing local government reorganisation”. That consultation closes at 5pm on 5 October.

There is no timetable for the decision. The minister committed only to communicating next steps “early and clearly”. Until then the district’s 2028 abolition is neither confirmed nor cancelled.

Treat published 2028 dates with care. Council pages, leaflets and the joint programme website were written before 7 September and several still state April 2028 as fact. Check the date on anything you read about the merger.

Sources

Sources were checked on the evening of 10 September 2026. If the council or the programme hub publishes a statement after that, this page will be updated with a dated note rather than rewritten.