The Prime Minister has said he is “prepared to look at” the decision to replace Hertfordshire’s existing 11 upper-tier councils with four new unitary authorities.

In July, the Sir Keir Starmer-led Government announced the county would get four unitary authorities, despite a consultation showing that a two-unitary model was the most popular option with residents, organisations and health, education, police and fire bodies.

Asked if his administration was still committed to the four-unitary model for Hertfordshire, Andy Burnham told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “Obviously, I was not directly involved in that decision and I would always be prepared to listen to local concerns.

How the Government wants to divide Hertfordshire into four new unitary authorities under local government reorganisation; inset, Prime Minister Andy Burnham

“I’m prepared to look at it but I don’t want to delay things here. Ministers in the previous administration will have looked at all of those issues and looked at them carefully and taken on board the range of concerns.

“The key here is we need to move forward with clarity as soon as possible so that we can get to that more devolved future.

“I’m really pleased to be here [in Stevenage] because I know the potential of this part of the world.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham meets Hertford and Stortford MP Josh Dean

“There’s lots of proud towns across Hertfordshire that with more power for themselves could truly start to fulfil their potential, and we want to get to that day as quickly as possible.”

Mr Burnham was speaking on a visit to Stevenage on Wednesday (August 12), when he spoke to family carers and Labour party members.

The Government plans to replace Hertfordshire’s county council and 10 district and borough councils, including East Herts, with four unitary authorities – Central Herts, East Herts & Broxbourne, West Herts and South West Herts – that will combine the powers held by the existing councils.

The PM also said that he backed the idea of a mayor for Hertfordshire, with a strategic authority sitting above the new unitary authorities to look at issues such as transport and strategic planning.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke to family carers and Labour Party members at a community centre in Stevenage

A Government consultation earlier this year on the local government shake-up received 1,831 responses. The two-unitary option of dividing Hertfordshire into East and West received a positive reaction from 38% of residents, compared to 31% for the four-unitary model.

Among organisations, there was a significant preference for the two-unitary model, with 54% expressing a positive opinion for that option compared to 39% for the three-unitary model and 32% for the four-unitary model.

The two-unitary option was also supported by five health bodies, two police and fire bodies, and one education body, whereas the four-unitary model was not supported by any bodies from those sectors.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke to family carers and Labour Party members at a community centre in Stevenage

On the other hand, the four-unitary option was backed by six of the 11 current councils – albeit, in two cases, after Labour cabinet members went against the wishes of full council – while the two-unitary model received the support of only two councils: Hertfordshire County Council and St Albans City & District Council.

Cllr Paul de Kort, Liberal Democrat leader of St Albans’ council, said he was “baffled as to why the Government chose to impose a four-unitary authority structure against the advice of key bodies such as health and education”.

He added that it was “encouraging that the Prime Minister seemed open to reviewing the decision” in response to the LDRS’ question.

Cllr de Kort said his group had backed the two-unitary option as they believed it “provided the best prospect of protecting key local services like leisure, supported housing and CCTV protection”.

The Liberal Democrat leader of Hertfordshire County Council, Cllr Steve Jarvis, said he has asked the Government to “explain why the previous minister decided to go for four unitary councils in Hertfordshire when two would have saved money and reduced the risk from dividing services like adult social care and support for vulnerable children”, but is still waiting for an answer.

He added: “Getting the number of councils right is important, and switching to a two-council solution need not cause any delay if they do it in the next few weeks.”

Both Cllr Jarvis and Cllr de Kort welcomed the Prime Minister’s support for a new strategic authority, which the former has said he wants to be in place “as soon as possible”.

Former Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary of State Steve Reed sent a letter in July to Hertfordshire’s council leaders explaining the four-unitary decision.

He said that it offered “better aligned geographies that reflect how people live, travel and work across the area” and would “enable services to be delivered in ways that reflect … communities, allowing for a more tailored approach to public service delivery”.

Mr Reed accepted, however, that the two-unitary model would have brought “benefits in terms of delivering savings in the short term and a simpler disaggregation of services”.

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