Local government reorganisation 2026: what England’s council shake-up means for flood risk and planning

England is part-way through the biggest reshaping of its councils in fifty years. Local government reorganisation replaces the two-tier system of county and district councils with single unitary authorities, and on 16 July 2026 the government confirmed the shift for a further 14 areas. For anyone bringing forward development, the practical bottom line is reassuring: your existing council, and its current flood risk and drainage requirements, stay in place until the new authorities formally launch — Surrey in April 2027 and most other areas in April 2028.

Until vesting day, every existing county, district and borough council keeps running as normal — live planning applications, flood risk assessments and drainage approvals continue under the rules already in force.

That said, reorganisation does change who will determine your application, who acts as your Lead Local Flood Authority, and which Local Plan and Strategic Flood Risk Assessment your site is judged against. This article explains what was announced, when the changes take effect, and what it means for your flood risk assessment and drainage strategy.

What was announced on 16 July 2026?

The government confirmed local government reorganisation for 14 more two-tier areas, replacing 134 existing county and district councils with 38 new unitary authorities. Decisions on West Sussex, and on Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, were held back for further consideration, with West Sussex now expected in October 2026.

• 14 areas confirmed: including Kent and Medway, Hertfordshire, Nottinghamshire, Devon, Lancashire, Oxfordshire, Leicestershire and Greater Lincolnshire.
• 134 into 38: 134 existing councils will be reorganised into 38 unitary authorities across those areas.
• Two areas deferred: West Sussex and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough were not decided, so their structures remain open.
• One planning team: each new unitary takes on all local services, including planning and local flood risk management, in a single authority.

What is local government reorganisation, and why now?

Local government reorganisation ends the split between county councils and district or borough councils and hands every local service to one unitary authority. The programme flows from the English Devolution White Paper of December 2024, which set out abolishing the two-tier system across the remaining shire counties, generally aiming for unitary authorities serving populations of around 500,000, to unlock mayoral devolution and simplify accountability.

For the planning system, that consolidation matters. Today the district or borough is usually the Local Planning Authority that determines applications and holds the Local Plan, while the county sits above it as the Lead Local Flood Authority and the minerals and waste authority. Reorganisation folds both roles into a single body.

When does it happen? The reorganisation timeline

The headline dates are fixed even where the exact boundaries are not. Across the confirmed 14 areas, elections to shadow unitary authorities are due on 6 May 2027, with the new councils taking over services on 1 April 2028. Surrey runs a year ahead of everyone else as the programme's first mover, with its two new councils going live on 1 April 2027.

What it means for your flood risk assessment and drainage strategy

In the short term, very little changes for a live application. The council you deal with today remains your Local Planning Authority, and the county council or existing unitary remains your Lead Local Flood Authority, until the new body formally launches. The national framework does not change either: the National Planning Policy Framework, the sequential and exception tests, and the requirement for a flood risk assessment in the higher flood zones all continue exactly as before.

Reorganisation changes who assesses your scheme, not the technical bar it must clear — a robust flood risk assessment and a well-evidenced drainage strategy are just as necessary before and after the switch.

What changes over time is the local layer. Each new unitary inherits the Local Plans and Strategic Flood Risk Assessments of its predecessor councils, then in due course prepares a single Local Plan and a consolidated evidence base for its whole area. Local validation lists, preferred drainage standards and discharge requirements will eventually be harmonised across what were separate districts. If your site sits near a boundary between old districts, the requirements that apply to it could shift once the new authority sets its own approach. Our explainers on the role of the Local Planning Authority and the role of Lead Local Flood Authorities set out who does what in that system.

How does reorganisation affect your Lead Local Flood Authority?

Your Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) is the council responsible for managing flood risk from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses, and it is a statutory consultee on surface water drainage for major planning applications. Today that is the county council or an existing unitary. After vesting day it becomes the new unitary authority. The duties themselves, set by the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, do not change — but who holds them, and over what area, does.

Those functions all move from the county to the new unitary on vesting day:

• Statutory drainage consultee: advising the planning authority on surface water drainage for major development.
• Local flood risk management strategy: the published strategy setting local priorities and standards.
• Flood investigations: the Section 19 duty to investigate significant flooding and report on it.
• Asset register: the record of structures and features that affect local flood risk.
• Ordinary watercourse consenting: approving and enforcing works that affect flow in smaller watercourses.
• SuDS review: checking drainage strategies against the national sustainable drainage standards.

How disruptive that is depends on the shape of the reorganisation. Where a whole county becomes a single unitary — Gloucestershire, for example — the LLFA transfers intact and continuity is high. Where a county is divided into several unitaries — four each in Kent, Devon, Lancashire and Hertfordshire, three in Oxfordshire, two in Surrey — one county-wide flood authority has to be split into several. A single flood team, asset register, strategy and consultee function is divided across the new boundaries, and each new authority has to build and resource its own capability. The County Councils Network has repeatedly warned that disaggregating county services and funding is the hardest part of reorganisation, and local flood risk management — where the expertise, models and catchment data sit at county scale — is a clear example.

For a site in a county being split into several unitaries, the practical question is which new authority will consult on your drainage — and whether its standards, data and response times match the county flood team you deal with today.

The Environment Agency is unaffected throughout: it keeps its role on main rivers and the sea and remains a statutory consultee in those areas. Only the local flood risk function moves. For the detail of how these duties work in practice, see the government guidance on flood risk management roles and the County Councils Network briefing on service disaggregation.

Who will determine your planning application after reorganisation?

After vesting day, a single unitary authority becomes both your Local Planning Authority and your Lead Local Flood Authority. The table below shows the confirmed structures in several of the affected areas, together with West Sussex, where the decision is still pending.

If you are unsure which authority your site falls under, our local planning authority guides and area guides set out the current flood risk and drainage requirements council by council. That includes districts already in the programme, such as Boston, East Lindsey and South Holland across Greater Lincolnshire, and West Oxfordshire in Oxfordshire — all of which fold into new unitary authorities in April 2028.

Which areas are affected — decided, deferred and imminent?

It helps to think of the programme in three groups, because your next step depends on which one your site is in.

• Imminent (Surrey): two unitaries go live on 1 April 2027, so Surrey sites see the change first.
• Decided (the 14 areas): structures are confirmed and new authorities launch on 1 April 2028, from Kent and Lancashire to Devon and Greater Lincolnshire.
• Deferred (West Sussex; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough): no structure yet, with West Sussex expected in October 2026 — boundaries and the future authority remain uncertain.
• Unchanged: London boroughs and existing unitary authorities are outside this programme and carry on as they are.

In West Sussex the delay means the five district and borough councils — Arun, Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex and Adur and Worthing — remain your planning authorities, with West Sussex County Council as the Lead Local Flood Authority, until a structure is confirmed and takes effect.

Unda publishes flood risk guidance for each of these areas, so you can check the local picture wherever your site sits. Among the counties with confirmed reorganisation, our area guides cover Devon, Kent, Lancashire, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Leicestershire and Rutland, Nottinghamshire, East Sussex, Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, Derbyshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Lincolnshire. For the areas still awaiting a decision, see our guides for West Sussex and Cambridgeshire; and for the first mover, Surrey, the change lands in April 2027.

What should developers and planning agents do now?

There is no need to pause a project or hold back a submission because of reorganisation. The sensible approach is to proceed under the current rules while keeping an eye on the transition dates that affect your area.

1. Confirm your current authority. Identify the council determining your application today and the current Lead Local Flood Authority — these remain in charge until vesting day.
2. Submit as normal. Prepare your flood risk assessment and drainage strategy to the standards in force now; a conditioned or in-progress application carries over to the successor authority.
3. Watch the vesting date for your area. Surrey in April 2027 and most others in April 2028; factor the changeover into long programmes and phased schemes.
4. Track West Sussex and other deferred areas. If your site is there, expect the structure to be confirmed later and plan for some uncertainty in the meantime.
5. Get the technical evidence right regardless. The flood risk and drainage bar does not fall during reorganisation, so a sound assessment is the best protection against delay.

If you want certainty about how the changes affect a specific site, our team can prepare a flood risk assessment and drainage strategy built around the authority that will actually determine your application, now and after reorganisation.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and further reading: the government's announcement, 14 more areas to benefit from streamlined local services (GOV.UK), the English Devolution White Paper (GOV.UK), and the House of Commons Library briefing on local government reorganisation.