Councils will be merged in a major reshuffle of local authority powers.

New plans to redesign local government could see district councils abolished and more elected mayors introduced across England.

Ministers are due to publish a paper on Monday outlining plans to merge areas that currently have two tiers of local authority – smaller district and larger county councils – in a bid to streamline services.

Elected metro mayors are also set to gain new powers over planning to speed up the delivery of new housing and infrastructure.

But the body representing district councils has warned the plans could spark “uproar” and argued “mega-councils” could undermine local decision-making.

Local government in England is currently characterized by a complex patchwork of arrangements that have changed greatly in recent years.

In some places, responsibility for local services is shared between county councils, which manage areas including social care and education, and district councils, which cover smaller areas and are responsible for services such as bin collection. There are

Some areas, particularly large towns and some cities, have “unitary” authorities responsible for both – while areas around large cities are increasingly covered by multi-council “joint” authorities. I have more options in areas like transport policy, planning and housing.

The Conservatives created 11 areas, each with an elected “metro” mayor, and set a target that every part of England that wanted some form of more powers would get a devolution deal by 2030.

Despite this, almost half of England’s population lives in an area not covered by the devolution deal.

The Labor government promised before the election to increase the use of local powers, with economic growth and more housing built as key parts of its wider goals.

A paper published on Monday is expected to set out an ambition to move towards unitary councils across England, with areas that currently have two tiers being asked to draw up merger proposals.

Streamlining local government will be touted as a way to enable the creation of more powerful local mayors, which Labor has seen as a way to unblock infrastructure and attract more investment.

Elected mayors would then oversee areas representing two or more councils, and would be given more powers over things like planning decisions and public transport.

This could result in the abolition of dozens of district councils – prompting some to claim that it would deprive people of genuine local decision-making.

This would require a series of deals across the country, emulating North Yorkshire, which now has a unitary authority after eight councils. They got together last year.

It would mark a scale of restructuring that would go beyond Labor’s promises in its election manifesto, and would mark the biggest overhaul of local government since the 1970s.

An overall timetable and route to achieving this has not been confirmed – and it remains unclear whether the government will use legal powers to consolidate councils, or allow them to do so through funding arrangements. Hope to inspire.

Labor says the overhaul will simplify local government and create savings by making service delivery more efficient.

In a speech on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner vowed to make the transition “the government’s default position”, giving councils the powers they need to “drive growth and raise living standards”. need to”.

But previous attempts to reorganize local government have resulted in rows over geographic boundaries and where power sits.

The plans have been opposed by the District Councils Network (DCN), an umbrella group for such councils, which says there is “little evidence” that past restructuring has saved taxpayers’ money. will go

The network’s vice-chair, Hannah Dalton, said the “formation of mega-councils” could prove “the opposite of change”.

He also warned that the restructure could “start a period of turmoil that will prevent councils from focusing on local services that reduce pressure on new homes, jobs and the NHS”.

However, the plans have been welcomed by the County Councils Network (CCN), which says its members “recognize the need to now embrace” the benefits of devolution in the face of “significant financial challenges”. “.

Its chairman, Tim Oliver, said it had become clear that in many areas of the county, restructuring was needed to “unlock” more generous funding from central government and create “more financially sustainable” councils. Need

Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair of the Local Government Association (LGA), said “True devolution of powers and resources can play a huge role in promoting inclusive economic growth, creating jobs and improving public services”. .

He said his members were “open to change” but “remained clear that local government restructuring should be a decision for councils and local areas”.

Monday’s paper is also expected to endorse plans to increase cooperation between councils in planning transport and infrastructure projects.

Higher-level councils, including unitary authorities and existing county councils, will be required to develop slimmed-down versions of the “local development” strategies used to plan projects in larger cities.

Since returning to office in July, Labor has announced four devolution deals: Greater Lincolnshire, Hull and East Yorkshire, Devon and Torbay, and Lancashire.

Combined authorities, including combined county authorities in more rural areas, are more developed in the north of England than in the south.

There has been poor appetite for devolution deals in parts of South West and East Anglia, where even the minimum population requirements would require the creation of large joint councils.

Speaking on Sunday, Labour’s Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham welcomed the plans for his area but said they did not go “far enough” when it came to giving elected mayors more control over skills policy.

He added that it was an area based on local needs, and the Department of Education’s “centralist approach” threatened to “put the brakes” on economic development.