The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has issued the next formal step in the Nottinghamshire and Nottingham reorganisation programme. On 28 July 2026, officials wrote to council chief executives in the area to explain the secondary legislation that will be taken forward to implement the selected proposal, and the correspondence was then published on GOV.UK on 29 July 2026. (gov.uk)
The letter follows the Secretary of State’s decision of 16 July 2026 to proceed, subject to Parliamentary approval, with a two-unitary structure for Nottinghamshire and Nottingham. MHCLG’s consultation outcome states that the option selected by ministers was the proposal submitted by Nottingham City Council. (gov.uk)
The government’s Nottinghamshire and Nottingham collection page is clear about the legal task now under way. Secondary legislation is being prepared to abolish the existing councils, establish the new councils and make transitional arrangements, which means the July decision does not by itself complete the reorganisation. The decisive change comes when the statutory instruments are approved and brought into effect. (gov.uk)
That matters in this case because the selected model did not emerge from a single local submission. MHCLG’s consultation document records three proposals received on 28 November 2025, including Nottingham City Council’s plan for two unitary councils with boundary changes affecting parts of Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe, alongside two alternative two-unitary models advanced by other councils in the area. (gov.uk)
The route to this point has been deliberately staged. Councils in Nottinghamshire and Nottingham were first invited on 5 February 2025 to develop proposals for unitary local government, with that invitation issued under Part 1 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007; a statutory consultation then ran from 5 February 2026 until 26 March 2026 before ministers reached their decision in July. (gov.uk)
For residents, the immediate position is continuity, because the current councils remain in place unless and until Parliament approves the legislation required to implement the new structure. For chief executives, the implementation letter signals that the programme has moved from proposal assessment to formal delivery work, with the final scheme depending on the statutory provisions that govern abolition, creation and transition arrangements. (gov.uk)