Issue details

Proposed decision:

To agree that KCC will act as the commissioning authority for the Strategic Partner arrangements to support all Kent Councils in progressing LGR implementation.

To agree that Kent County Council will hold any MHCLG Local Government Reorganisation funding received on behalf of Kent councils, to be used solely for LGR transition and implementation activity.

Delegate authority to the Chief Executive to undertake and conclude any relevant commissioning and procurement processes necessary to implement this decision, and to oversee and approve the use of MHCLG funding in line with agreed governance arrangements.

Reason for the decision

To support councils in Kent and Medway transition to new Unitary Council(s), following the Ministerial decision July 2026, Kent and Medway councils have requested that Kent County Council act as lead procurement authority for securing a strategic partner to support implementation from the Ministerial decision to vesting day April 2028.For the Kent LGR Programme, the transition period are Phases:

• Phase 3: Foundational (Decision, July 2026 to Shadow Elections, May 2027)
• Phase 4: Readiness (Shadow Elections, May 2027 to Vesting Day, April 2028)

This decision is required now to ensure that appropriate support is in place as soon as the government decision is made, enabling councils to progress implementation at pace and in a coordinated way.

Background

In February 2025 the then Minister for Local Government invited Councils in Kent and Medway to submit proposals for local government reorganisation (LGR).After submitting a joint interim proposal in March 2025, Leaders were given a deadline of 28 November 2025 to submit final business cases on reorganisation. Leaders in Kent and Medway ultimately submitted 5 business cases on 28 November 2025.

A Ministerial decision is expected by 16 July 2026. Ministers will decide whether to implement any of the submitted proposals, and with or without modification, based on the criteria, consultation responses, and other relevant information, with final agreement made collectively across government.

In advance of the Ministerial decision, councils are working collaboratively through a shared governance and programme framework to prepare for implementation. Once a model is chosen, Kent and Medway councils will be required to move immediately into a complex and time?critical implementation phase leading up to vesting day in April 2028. This will involve the need for immediate access to specialist support to manage transition activities across multiple workstreams, including programme management, finance, workforce, service transformation, systems, and governance.

Any approved option would represent the largest and most complex reorganisation undertaken in England, involving up to 14 existing councils (1 County Council, 1 Unitary, and 12 District / Borough Councils), covering a population of 1.9 million people.

Kent and Medway councils therefore have asked Kent County Council to act as the lead commissioning authority to procure the Strategic Partner. Procuring a Strategic Partner provides a flexible and scalable way to secure this expertise collectively, aligned to the agreed programme structure and priorities currently in place. The Strategic Partner will provide specialist programme, financial, service disaggregation, and assurance support to help councils collectively manage the scale, complexity and pace of transition, to help while councils protect business?as?usual services.

Options (other options considered but discarded)

Deliver implementation using internal council capacity only

This option was discounted as councils do not have sufficient capacity or specialist expertise available to deliver LGR implementation at the required pace and scale without creating unacceptable risk to core service delivery. The complexity of reorganisation in Kent and Medway, including its size and the number of councils involved, exceeds what could reasonably be managed through existing resources alone.

How the proposed decision supports the Council’s Strategic Statement

This decision directly aligns with Reforming Kent objective 4 priorities and commitments:

• We will continue to push Government to ensure that residents interests are at the heart of LGR and that the resident voice is embedded in our proposals through local networks.
• Engage with all Kent and Medway councils transparently and respectfully throughout the LGR process, even where we disagree on LGR proposals, so all partners act in the best interests of Kent and Medway residents.
• Ensure that continuity of service provision and service quality is not put at risk by any LGR proposals, either through the development of LGR proposals, or through the implementation of any changes imposed on Kent by the Government.

Financial Implications

The total value of the Strategic Partner contract is not yet confirmed. While consultancy and strategic partner services have been procured previously, the scale and volume of work required for a reorganisation of this size, diversity and complexity has not been delivered for a council arrangement of this kind. It is anticipated that the total cost will exceed £1 million and therefore will meet the Key Decision criterion.

To support transition to new Unitary Council(s), Kent and Medway councils are procuring a Strategic Partner to provide implementation support from the Government’s decision (expected July 2026) through to vesting day for the new Unitary Council(s) (April 2028).

Kent and Medway Chief Executives have agreed an apportionment methodology, designed by the Kent Finance Officers Group, for sharing the costs of transition to establish new councils. This has been formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding signed by all 14 councils, supported by letters of assurance and comfort from all Chief Executives.

The methodology apportions pre?implementation costs up to vesting day and averages cost shares using population and taxbase, as set out below:

• Between Unitary and Two-Tier area 50% by 2024-25 Taxbase and 50% Population Estimate
• In the two-tier area between County and Districts by 80%:20%
• Between Districts and Boroughs 50% by 2024-25 Taxbase and 50% by Population Estimate

On 16 February 2026, MHCLG announced an additional £63 million nationally to support the next phase of reorganisation. On 25 March 2026, as part of decisions in DPP areas, MHCLG confirmed that this funding would be allocated to areas on a basis of £900,000 per new unitary authority. Depending on the number of new unitaries the Minister establishes in the summer, Kent and Medway are therefore expected to receive between £900,000 and £4.5 million.

MHCLG advised that this funding would be paid to the council whose Chief Executive is designated as the Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for the relevant new unitary footprint. However, MHCLG has indicated that this arrangement is negotiable, and Kent and Medway councils have made clear their preference for the funding to be received jointly into a shared programme funding pot hosted by KCC.

If the MHCLG funding is still paid directly to individual councils, the Memorandum of Understanding agreed by all Kent and Medway authorities still requires that such funding is transferred to KCC, which will continue to hold and manage the funding on behalf of the 14 Councils.

It is therefore proposed that MHCLG funding allocated to Kent and Medway will be used to meet the costs associated with procuring and engaging the Strategic Partner and will require no spend from the Councils budgets for 2026-27. This is further supported by paying the Strategic Partner in instalments during the length of the contract, subject to the Strategic Partner achieving agreed contractual milestones and Key Performance Indicators.