Fenland District Council will go in sweeping changes to local government being planned by the Government

Councillors representing Fenland are facing serving an extra year in office amid planned changes to local government which will see the district and county councils go.

The once-in-a-lifetime shake-up of local government was announced by the Government at the end of last year, and work is already underway to determine how the outcome of that might look.

In Fenland council leader Chris Boden, who is also a county councillor, is relishing the challenge the shake-up has brought and is looking forward to ensuring our area gets the best representation it can.

Cllr Boden said the “rules of the game” have yet to be clarified by the Government, but one of those already outlined is that each new unitary authority should have a population of between 500,000 and one million residents.

Fenland has 103,000 residents, so it is therefore vital to align our district with others across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and even Lincolnshire to make the right decision economically and functionally.

Cllr Boden said it makes sense to look at the economic functions of the area and agreed that Fenland aligns itself more with Peterborough as its economic centre than Cambridge.

He said the current county boundaries were largely decided in the 9th and 10th centuries by the Anglo-Saxons, and therefore it is not necessarily right to remain “subservient” to decisions made over 1,000 years ago.

The last major shake-up of local government was in the 1970s when the Local Government Act of 1974 came into force and did away with the then-urban district councils, replacing them with the current two-tier system of district and county.

It is likely the new authority replacing the county and district councils will resemble something of those urban district councils.

Town and parish councils are expected to be largely unaffected by the current proposal, however, the feeling at both March and Chatteris Town Councils this week was that they may become responsible for more services.

Chatteris Town clerk Jo Melton told her council that she had little doubt more responsibility would be devolved to towns and parishes and suggested open spaces and leisure facilities could be among the services given to the lowest tier of government to manage.

In the meantime the Combined Authority which covers Cambridgeshire and Peterborough would remain in place, however, the boundaries may change as the Government’s aim is to ensure every part of the country is covered by such an authority.

Services currently divided between the county and district councils – such as highways, refuse collection, housing, education and planning – would become the responsibility of whatever new body comes into place, putting them all under one umbrella.

Cllr Boden said: “We should not be looking at this as a threat, or in a negative way. This is an opportunity and we need to ensure we get the best for Fenland in whatever way we can.

“I have already started to have discussions with leaders of other district councils including East Cambridgeshire, South Cambridgeshire, South Kesteven and South Holland.

“It is the sort of challenge I relish and I am determined to do the best I can for our area all we are waiting to hear are the rules of the game so we can get on with the job in hand.

“We are expecting a letter from the Minister responsible shortly and we have been told we need to get some kind of consensus among the various district and county councils about how the new authority boundaries will look.

“It is like an interlocking jigsaw and all the pieces need to link together to ensure everywhere is covered. We will be expected to have our first recommendations ready by March, with the final consultation recommendations due in the autumn.”

Cllr Boden added that the changes for our area will come into force on April 1 2028 as Fenland is in the second tranche of authorities to change.

That is why there will be no local government elections in 2027 meaning councillors will serve the extra year to cover the gap between the old and new authorities.